Norton by Symantec has disclosed the results of research it carried out, indicating that one in five Britons was exposed to cybercrime over the past year, translating to 22 percent or over 12 million British people.
The Norton Cybersecurity Insights Report reports that the U.K. public lost close to £134, or $203, for every individual victimized by cybercrime. This amounts to an approximated total of £1.6 billion, or $2.42 billion, throughout the nation. Furthermore, U.K..consumers lost nine hours, or over one working day, handling the aftereffects of the cybercrime. This means two in five, or 44 percent of all U.K. consumers, were victims of online crime.
Nick Shaw, currently the EMEA general manager at Norton Business Unit says that people should no longer need to be convinced of the threats.
“Our findings demonstrate that people’s trust in online activity has been rattled, yet there still is not widespread adoption of simple protection measures that people should take to safeguard their information online,” says Shaw.
Get Safe Online CEO Tony Neate says that cybercrime is usually personal. He is concerned that hackers are becoming more advanced, using personal information to target victims "while hiding behind a cloak of anonymity."
Things such as maintaining your antivirus software up-to-date, reporting distrustful activities and using different passwords for online accounts can significantly help in safeguarding yourself and your family against cybercrime, says Neate.
It is interesting to note that consumers see governments and foreign nations as the main perpetrators of cybercrimes in the U.K. Forty-five percent of the participants directed their fingers at foreign governments as culprits. Meanwhile, one in 10 Britons is convinced that intelligent kids who are just doing it to keep things interesting are the major culprits.
In addition, during the past year, one in seven victims has had their financial details ripped off as a consequence of purchasing things online. The research involved 1,000 individuals in the U.K.
