Hackers Hone Their Skills While Consumers Remain Complacent
November 16 2016 - 12:00AM
Business Wire
- Norton Cyber Security Insights Report
Finds Recent Cybercrime Victims Most Likely to Repeat Risky
Behaviors
- Consumers are Letting Hackers Sneak
into their Homes Through Connected Devices
Norton by Symantec (NASDAQ:SYMC), today released findings from
the annual Norton Cyber Security Insights Report, which sheds light
on the truth about online crime and the personal effect it has on
consumers.
The report found that consumers who were victims of cybercrime
within the past year often continued their unsafe behavior. For
example, while these consumers were more likely to use a password
on every account, they were nearly twice as likely to share their
password with others, negating their efforts. Further, 76 percent
of consumers know they must actively protect their information
online, but are still sharing passwords and engaging in other risky
behaviors. Additionally, 35 percent of people have at least one
unprotected device leaving their other devices vulnerable to
ransomware, malicious websites, zero days and phishing attacks.
“Our findings show that people are growing increasingly aware of
the need to protect their personal information online, but aren’t
motivated to take adequate precautions to stay safe,” said Fran
Rosch, executive vice president, Norton Business Unit, Symantec.
“While consumers remain complacent, hackers are refining their
skills and adapting their scams to further take advantage of
people, making the need for consumers to take some action
increasingly important.”
Given the rampant rates of cybercrime the complacency in
consumer behavior is concerning. Within the past year, 689 million
people in 21 countries were victims of cybercrime, an increase of
10 percent across the 17 countries that were measured in 2015.
Overconfidence in Connected Devices Leaves Consumers
Vulnerable
With every connected home device purchase, consumers are
unknowingly giving hackers a new avenue to launch attacks. In some
instances, poor consumer security habits and vulnerabilities in
connected devices are letting hackers into consumers’ homes.
- One in five connected home device users
don’t have any protective measures in place for their
devices.
- Nearly half (44 percent) of consumers
surveyed don’t believe there are enough connected device
users for them to be a worthwhile target for hackers. Yet, just
as hackers learned to benefit from targeting social media and
financial accounts, they are on their way to learning how access to
connected home devices can be lucrative.
- Over six in 10 (62 percent)
consumers said they believe connected home devices were designed
with online security in mind. However, Symantec researchers
identified security vulnerabilities in 50 different connected home
devices ranging from smart thermostats to smart hubs that could
make the devices easy targets for attacks1.
Consumers Admit the Risks Are Real
The prevalence of cybercrime has merged with peoples’ perception
of real-world risks. Many now see cybercrime dangers as equivalent
to risks in the real world.
- Half of consumers said that over the
past five years, it’s become harder to stay safe online than in
the real world.
- Six in ten (61 percent) said they
believe entering financial information online when connected
to public Wi-Fi is riskier than reading their credit or debit
card number aloud in a public place.
- Almost half of parents (48 percent)
believe their children are more likely to be bullied online
than on a playground, compared to only 23 percent in 2015.
Bad Habits Are Hard to Break – Online or Otherwise
Experiencing cybercrime is a potential consequence of living in
a connected world, but consumers still remain complacent when it
comes to protecting their personal information online.
- Millennials exhibit surprisingly
slack online security habits, and are happy to share passwords that
compromise their online safety (35 percent). This is likely why
they remain the most common victims of cybercrime, with 40 percent
having experienced cybercrime in the past year.
- More than one in three consumers
never connect to a Wi-Fi network using VPN, which can
potentially allow a hacker to steal data as it travels on the
network.
- Consumers are still willing to click on
links from senders they don’t know or open malicious attachments.
Nearly three in 10 people cannot detect a phishing attack,
and another 13 percent have to guess between a real message and a
phishing email, meaning four in 10 are vulnerable.
- Thinking about cyber security doesn’t
mean you’re secure. People who experienced cybercrime within the
past year were more likely to be concerned about the security of
their home Wi-Fi network (66 percent vs. 50 percent non-victims),
but less likely to password protect their home Wi-Fi network
than non-victims (22 percent vs. 14 percent of non-victims have
unprotected networks).
To learn more about the real impact of cybercrime and how
consumers can protect their digital information, go here for more
information.
About the Norton Cyber Security Insights Report
The Norton Cyber Security Insights Report is an online survey of
20,907 device users ages 18+ across 21 markets, commissioned by
Norton by Symantec and produced by research firm Edelman
Intelligence. The margin of error for the total sample is +/-0.68%.
The U.S. sample reflects input from 1,002 U.S. device users ages
18+. The margin of error is +/- 3.1% for the total U.S. sample.
Data was collected Sept. 14 - Oct. 4, 2016 by Edelman
Intelligence.
About Symantec
Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC), the world’s leading cyber
security company, helps businesses, governments and people secure
their most important data wherever it lives. Organizations across
the world look to Symantec for strategic, integrated solutions to
defend against sophisticated attacks across endpoints, cloud and
infrastructure. Likewise, a global community of more than 50
million people and families rely on Symantec’s Norton suite of
products for protection at home and across all of their devices.
Symantec operates one of the world’s largest civilian cyber
intelligence networks, allowing it to see and protect against the
most advanced threats. For additional information, please
visit www.symantec.com or connect with us on Facebook,
Twitter, and LinkedIn.
1 Ballano Barcena, M., & Wueest, C. (2016). Insecurity in
the Internet of Things, Symantec [White paper].
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161115006847/en/
Symantec CorporationSpring Harris,
650-527-0742Spring_Harris@Symantec.comorEdelman for SymantecKaty
Klein, 206-505-6553Katy.Klein@Edelman.com
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