The personal impact of cybercrime

Revealed in a survey conducted last year, the Norton Cyber Security Insights Report explores consumers’ online behavior that leaves them vulnerable to threats.

What is the Norton Cyber Security Insights Report?

With new and emerging security threats developing every day, much has been written about the online crime landscape. The Norton Cyber Security Insights Report sets out to understand how consumers are personally impacted by cybercrime and put a human face on the headlines dominating the news. This online survey of 20,907 consumers in 21 markets was commissioned by Norton by Symantec to give a global view of online crime and the toll it takes on consumers. You can download the full report here.

Here are a few facts and figures from the 2016 Norton Cyber Security Insights Report that will change the way you think about cybersecurity.

• Forty percent of Millennials report having experienced cybercrime in the past year.
• Nearly three in 10 people cannot detect a phishing attack.
• Another 13 percent have to guess between a real message and a phishing email, meaning four in 10 are vulnerable.
• Eighty - six percent of people said they may have experienced a phishing incident.
• 7 in 10 consumers wish they could make their home Wi-Fi network more secure.
• Yet only 27 percent believe it is likely their home Wi-Fi network could be compromised.

The Impact

Within the past year, cybercrime victims have spent $126 billion globally and lost 19.7 hours – the time it would take to fly from New York City to Los Angeles four times – dealing with cybercrime.

The number of connected devices has exponentially grown in the last year and there is a constant need to be connected. In fact, people are willing to engage in risky online behavior in order to simply access Wi-Fi.

People are also known to share their passwords with friends, access financial information via unsecured Wi-Fi connections, and click on suspicious links thereby increasing the vulnerability of their connected devices. Eighty percent of the consumers who took a compromising action in response to a potential phishing incident experienced negative consequences, including identify theft, money stolen from bank accounts, credit cards opened in their name and unauthorized apps installed on their device.