As per F-Secure, millions of UK adults have been victims of digital scammers in the past, but a quarter has no security controls in place to safeguard their online activity.
As part of a global Living Secure study into cybersecurity awareness and behavior, the Finnish security vendor polled 1000 Britons.
It discovered that 19%, or approximately 12.6 million British citizens, had previously been duped by online fraud such as a phishing attack. According to F-Secure, the consequences of these incidents ranged from identity theft to data and password loss and even the theft of life savings.
Despite spending an average of eight hours per day on the internet, a significant minority still do not protect themselves online, based on a report. One reason could be that many people are scared of the prospect: 60% of respondents said cybersecurity is too complicated.
The report also emphasized a disparity in respondents' attitudes and awareness. While more than three-quarters (77%) said they could spot a scam, nearly two-thirds said they are concerned about their own and their families' online safety, and half (48%) said they have no idea if their devices are secure or not.
According to the FBI, phishing was the most common type of cybercrime in 2021, with identity theft, romance fraud, tech support scams, and investment fraud also ranking among the top ten.
“Our research has highlighted a clear disconnect between what we do online and how vulnerable we feel online, versus the concrete actions we take to reduce that vulnerability,” argued F-Secure CEO, Timo Laaksonen.
“Despite many Britons often feeling unsafe online they still aren’t putting adequate security measures in place. In the physical world you wouldn’t willingly give out passwords and personal data to strangers, so why go online and do it, and risk being a target for online criminals?”
According to the same report, investment and romance fraud cost cybercriminals a total of $2.4 billion that year. The conclusions of the F-Secure report appear to indicate a risk for businesses if employees exhibit the same low levels of security awareness in the workplace as they do at home.
