Canadians are confident they’re safe online, but hackers have proven otherwise, stealing $1.8 billion from 10 million Canadians in the past year according to the 2017 Norton Cyber Security Insights Report, released today by Norton by Symantec.
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 per cent of global cybercrime victims, despite their experience, gained trust in their ability to protect their data and personal information from future attacks and 33 per cent believed they had a low riskof becoming a cybercrime victim.
Canadians Slow to Embrace Cyber Security Safety Measures and Leave Their Virtual Door Unlocked
Canadians are adopting device protection technologies such as fingerprint ID, pattern matching and facial recognition, but appear to be doing so at a slower pace than American consumers. Thirty-three per cent of Canadian cybercrime victims used fingerprint ID (45 per cent in the U.S.), 13 per cent used a personal VPN (19 per cent in the U.S.), 9 per cent used pattern matching (21 per cent in the U.S.) and 6 per cent used facial recognition (16 per cent in the U.S.). 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. Thirty-four per cent of Canadian cybercrime victims owned a smart device for streaming content, compared to 25 per cent of non-victims.
- Despite experiencing a cybercrime within the past year, 52 per cent of cybercrime victims in Canada shared their passwords for at least one device or account with others. By comparison, only 31 per cent of non-cybercrime victims share their passwords with others. Cybercrime victims in Canada were also more likely to share their passwords for potentially sensitive online accounts such as banking (17 per cent cybercrime victims vs. 12 per cent non-cybercrime victims), social media (20 per cent cybercrime victims vs. 12 per cent non-cybercrime victims) and email accounts (22 per cent cybercrime victims vs. 14 per cent non-cybercrime victims).
Consumer Boundaries Skewed Between Cybercrime and “Real Life”
Eighty-four per cent of Canadian consumers believe cybercrime should be treated as a criminal act. However, when pressed, contradictions emerged. Eighteen per cent believe stealing information online was not as bad as stealing property in ‘real life.’ Additionally, when presented with examples of morally questionable online behavior, 38 per cent of Canadians believed the activities were sometimes acceptable. Those activities included reading someone’s emails without their consent (23 per cent), using a false photo or someone else’s photo to identify themselves online (18 per cent), and even accessing someone’s financial accounts without their permission (12 per cent).
The State of Consumers’ Trust
Despite this year’s cyberattacks, Canadians generally continue to trust the institutions that manage their data and personal information. However, they are not as trusting of some institutions and organizations.
- Canadians gained or maintained trust in organizations such as banks and financial institutions (86 per cent), and identity theft protection service providers (79 per cent) despite the attacks that made headlines this year.
- Alternatively, 38 per cent of Canadians lost trust in their government to manage their data and personal information within the past year. Thirty-five per cent lost trust in social media platforms.
- Twenty-nine per cent of Canadian cybercrime victims 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 Canadian sample reflects input from 1,120 Canadian adults ages 18+. The margin of error is +/- 2.9% for the total Canada sample. Data was collected Oct. 5 – Oct. 24, 2017 by Reputation Leaders.
How Norton Defines Cybercrime
The definition of cybercrime continues to evolve, as avenues open up that allow cybercriminals to target consumers in new ways. Each year, Norton 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.
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Consumers’ Overconfidence Helps Hackers Up The Ante: Norton
Canadians are confident they’re safe online, but hackers have proven otherwise, stealing $1.8 billion from 10 million Canadians in the past year according to the 2017 Norton Cyber Security Insights Report, released today by Norton by Symantec.
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 per cent of global cybercrime victims, despite their experience, gained trust in their ability to protect their data and personal information from future attacks and 33 per cent believed they had a low riskof becoming a cybercrime victim.
Canadians Slow to Embrace Cyber Security Safety Measures and Leave Their Virtual Door Unlocked
Canadians are adopting device protection technologies such as fingerprint ID, pattern matching and facial recognition, but appear to be doing so at a slower pace than American consumers. Thirty-three per cent of Canadian cybercrime victims used fingerprint ID (45 per cent in the U.S.), 13 per cent used a personal VPN (19 per cent in the U.S.), 9 per cent used pattern matching (21 per cent in the U.S.) and 6 per cent used facial recognition (16 per cent in the U.S.). However, consumers who adopted these technologies often still practice poor password hygiene and fell victim to cybercrime.
Consumer Boundaries Skewed Between Cybercrime and “Real Life”
Eighty-four per cent of Canadian consumers believe cybercrime should be treated as a criminal act. However, when pressed, contradictions emerged. Eighteen per cent believe stealing information online was not as bad as stealing property in ‘real life.’ Additionally, when presented with examples of morally questionable online behavior, 38 per cent of Canadians believed the activities were sometimes acceptable. Those activities included reading someone’s emails without their consent (23 per cent), using a false photo or someone else’s photo to identify themselves online (18 per cent), and even accessing someone’s financial accounts without their permission (12 per cent).
The State of Consumers’ Trust
Despite this year’s cyberattacks, Canadians generally continue to trust the institutions that manage their data and personal information. However, they are not as trusting of some institutions and organizations.
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 Canadian sample reflects input from 1,120 Canadian adults ages 18+. The margin of error is +/- 2.9% for the total Canada sample. Data was collected Oct. 5 – Oct. 24, 2017 by Reputation Leaders.
How Norton Defines Cybercrime
The definition of cybercrime continues to evolve, as avenues open up that allow cybercriminals to target consumers in new ways. Each year, Norton 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.
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This entry was posted on January 23, 2018 at 9:12 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Symantec. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.