Consumers’ Overconfidence Helps Hackers Up the Ante and Steal $172 Billion in 2017
January 23 2018 - 12:00AM
Business Wire
2017 Norton Cyber Security Insights Report
Reveals Common Traits of Cybercrime Victims
Consumers are confident they’re safe online, but hackers have
proven otherwise, stealing $172 billion from 978 million consumers
in 20 countries in the past year, according to the 2017 Norton
Cyber Security Insights Report, released today by Norton by
Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC).
Globally, cybercrime victims share a similar profile: they are
everyday consumers who use multiple devices whether at home or on
the go, but have a blind spot when it comes to cyber security
basics. This group tends to use the same password across multiple
accounts or share it with others. Equally concerning, 39 percent of
global cybercrime victims despite their experience, gained trust in
their ability to protect their data and personal information from
future attacks and 33 percent believe they had a low risk1 of
becoming a cybercrime victim.
In the United States, 143 million consumers were victims of
cybercrime – more than half the U.S. adult online population.
Losses totaled $19.4 billion and each victim lost an average of
nearly 20 hours (19.8 hours) dealing with the aftermath.
“Consumers’ actions revealed a dangerous disconnect: Despite a
steady stream of cybercrime sprees reported by media, too many
people appear to feel invincible and skip taking even basic
precautions to protect themselves,” said Fran Rosch, executive vice
president, Consumer Business Unit, Symantec. “This disconnect
highlights the need for consumer digital safety and the urgency for
consumers to get back to basics when it comes to doing their part
to prevent cybercrime.”
Americans Embrace Cyber Security Safety Measures, but Leave
Their Virtual Door Unlocked
Consumers used device protection technologies such as
fingerprint ID, pattern matching and facial recognition, with 45
percent using fingerprint ID, 21 percent using pattern matching, 19
percent using a personal VPN, 14 percent using voice ID, 16 percent
using two-factor authentication and 16 percent using facial
recognition. However, consumers who adopted these technologies
often still practice poor password hygiene and fell victim to
cybercrime.
- Consumers express confidence, but are
more prone to attacks as they protect newer and more devices.
Forty-six percent of U.S. cybercrime victims owned a smart device
for streaming content, compared to about one quarter of
non-victims. They were also three times as likely to own a
connected home device.
- Despite experiencing a cybercrime
within the past year, nearly a quarter of victims in the U.S. used
the same online password across all accounts and 60 percent shared
their passwords for at least one device or account with others,
negating security efforts. By comparison, only 17 percent of
non-cybercrime victims reuse passwords and 37 percent share their
passwords with others. Additionally, 41 percent write their
passwords down on a piece of paper and are almost twice as likely
to use different passwords and save their password to a file on
their computer/smartphone than non-victims.
Consumer Boundaries Skewed Between Cybercrime and “Real
Life”
Eighty-one percent of U.S. consumers believe cybercrime should
be treated as a criminal act. However, when pressed, contradictions
emerged. Nearly one in four believe stealing information online was
not as bad as stealing property in ‘real life.’ When presented with
examples of cybercrime, 41 percent of consumers believed it’s
sometimes acceptable to commit morally questionable online
behaviors in certain instances, such as reading someone’s emails
(28 percent), using a false email or someone else's email to
identify their self online (20 percent) and even accessing
someone’s financial accounts without their permission (18
percent).
The State of Consumers’ Trust
Despite this year’s cyberattacks, Americans generally continue
to trust the institutions that manage their data and personal
information. However, they are not as trusting of some institutions
and organizations.
- Consumers gained or maintained trust
in organizations such as banks and financial institutions (76
percent), and identity theft protection service providers (71
percent) despite the attacks that made headlines this
year.
- Alternatively, more than half of
U.S. consumers (53 percent) lost trust in their government to
manage their data and personal information within the past
year. 39 percent lost trust in social media platforms.
- More than one third (37 percent) of
U.S. cybercrime victims gained trust in themselves to manage their
data and personal information.
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
21,549 individuals ages 18+ across 20 markets, commissioned by
Norton by Symantec and produced by research firm Reputation
Leaders. The margin of error for the total sample is +/-.7%. The
U.S. sample reflects input from 1,003 U.S. adults ages 18+. The
margin of error is +/- 3.1% for the total U.S. sample. Data was
collected Oct. 5 – Oct. 24, 2017 by Reputation Leaders.
How We Define Cybercrime
The definition of cybercrime continues to evolve as avenues open
up that allow cybercriminals to target consumers in new ways. Each
year, we will evaluate current cybercrime trends and update the
report’s methodology as needed, to ensure the Norton Cyber Security
Insights Report provides an accurate snapshot of the impact of
cybercrime as it stands today. In the 2017 Norton Cyber Security
Insights Report, a cybercrime is defined as, but not limited to, a
number of specific actions, including identity theft, credit card
fraud or having your account password compromised. For the purposes
of this report, a cybercrime victim is a survey respondent who
confirmed one or more of these incidents took place. Visit
https://www.symantec.com/about/newsroom/press-kits to learn
more.
About Symantec
Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC), the world’s leading cyber
security company, helps organizations, 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 and
LifeLock product suites to protect their digital lives at home and
across 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 Respondents’ attribution of cybercrime risk is based on their
personal beliefs and definition of cybercrime.
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Symantec CorporationSpring Harris,
650-527-0742Spring_Harris@symantec.comorEdelman for SymantecJenn
Foss, 503-471-6804Jenn.Foss@edelman.com
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