A new Norton cybercrime report out today for 2012 looks at the way cybercrime and how the evolution of new technologies is affecting consumers globally and impacting their security. The report calculates the direct costs associated with global consumer cybercrime at stg£69bn over the past 12 months.
The latest Norton by Symantec cybercrime report has based its findings on the self-reported experiences of more than 13,000 adults across 24 countries.
Based on its findings, Norton claims that circa 556m adults globally experienced cybercrime in the past 12 months.
While Ireland was not included in the study, for the UK Norton has estimated that more than 12.5m people were affected by cybercrime in the past year, suffering more than stg£1.8bn in direct financial losses.
According to the report, 18 people become a cybercrime victim every second. This apparently results in 1.5m people across the globe becoming a victim of cybercrime each day.
The 2020 study from Norton also points to new forms of cybercrime in comparison to last year, with cyber-criminals starting to shift their attacks towards social networks and mobile devices.
Norton claims that one in five online adults was a victim of either social or mobile cybercrime in the past 12-month period.
‘Social cybercrime’
Interestingly, 39pc of social network users have been victims of what Norton terms ‘social cybercrime’. Broken down, the study claims that 15pc of social network users reported someone had hacked into their profile and pretended to be them, while one in 10 social network users said they had fallen victim to a scam or fake link on social network platforms.
As for mobile users, 31pc of those surveyed reported receiving a text message from someone they didn’t know requesting that they click on an embedded link or dial an unknown number to retrieve a voicemail.
“Cyber-criminals are changing their tactics to target fast-growing mobile platforms and social networks where consumers are less aware of security risks,” said Marian Merritt, Norton internet safety advocate.
Cybercrime image via Shutterstock
