978 mn consumers lost $172 bn to hackers in 2017

Symantec technology for securityHackers have stolen $172 billion from 978 million consumers in 20 countries in 2017, said Norton by Symantec in the 2017 Norton Cyber Security Insights Report.

The number of cyber-crime victims was 6.09 million in Australia, 62.21 million in Brazil, 10.14 million in Canada, 352.70 million in China, 19.31 million in France, 23.36 million in Germany, 2.41 million in Hong Kong, 186.44 million in India, 59.45 million in Indonesia, 16.44 million in Italy, 17.74 million in Japan, 33.15 million in Mexico, 3.43 million in Netherlands, 1.14 million in New Zealand, 1.26 million in Singapore, 16.20 million in Spain, 2.09 million in Sweden, 3.72 million in UAE, 17.40 million in UK and 143.70 million in US.

The average victim lost $142.

The amount lost due to cyber-crime was $1.9 billion in Australia, $22.5 billion in Brazil, $1.5 billion in Canada, $66.3 billion in China, $7.1 billion in France, $2.6 billion in Germany, $0.1 billion in Hong Kong, $18.5 billion in India, $3.2 billion in Indonesia, $4.1 billion in Italy, $2.1 billion in Japan, $7.7 billion in Mexico, $1.6 billion in Netherlands, $0.1 billion in New Zealand, $0.4 billion in Singapore, $2.1 billion in Spain, $3.9 billion in Sweden, $1.1 billion in UAE, $6.0 billion in UK and $19.4 billion in US.

143 million consumers in the United States 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.

“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.
Cyber security victimConsumers 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.

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.

Eighty-one percent of U.S. consumers believe cybercrime should be treated as a criminal act.

53 percent U.S. consumers lost trust in their government to manage their data and personal information within the past year. 39 percent lost trust in social media platforms.

37 percent of U.S. cybercrime victims gained trust in themselves to manage their data and personal information.

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.

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