Report: Cyber Victims in India Don’t Learn from their Past Mistakes
According to a report by Norton Cyber Security, Indians love to use public WiFi, but they don’t understand the risks that come with it.
Norton surveyed over 20,000 people - over a 1,000 from India – for their annual Norton Cyber Security Insights Report. The findings from India show that many who have been burned before by a cyber thief are not willing to step up their cybersecurity. Two key points emerged from the report, according to Ritesh Chopra, Country Manager for Norton.
“On the one hand, cybercriminals are honing their skills, on the other consumers continue to remain complacent about data security,” Chopra said. “In our survey, we saw that a majority of people knew they must protect their online information. But then, we also saw that many devices were unprotected, say without a password, putting them at risk to ransomware, malware, etc.”
The survey shows that millennials (34 percent) in are particularly slack when it comes to cybersecurity, as they are happy to share passwords that compromise their data online.
“One of the reasons for this is that people choose convenience over security. They also believe there’s nothing risky in their online behavior,” Chopra said. There’s also an attitude of ‘who will want my data?’
This lax behavior explains why Indians are increasingly falling prey to ransomware. 27 percent of the victims in India actually paid ransom to gain access to their files. According to Chopra, the ransom is either paid in bitcoins or bank account transfers, but he points out that this is also no guarantee that people will get their files back.
The other area where Indians end up compromising their cyber security is in their love for public Wi-Fi. Interestingly the survey showed that while people who experienced cyber-crime within the past year were more likely to be concerned about the security of their home Wi-Fi network, yet this same group of victims was less likely to password protect their home Wi-Fi network than non-victims.
The survey also showed that only 56 per cent of consumers knew how to determine whether the Wi-Fi network they are using is secure. When it comes to public WiFi, one in four (27 per cent) regularly use public connections, like at airports and coffee shops.
“Awareness and education is really important, especially in a country like ours. We will have a lot of first-generation Internet users who might not understand the full risks and vulnerabilities associated with going online. The rule is that you bring your learning around safety from the real world into the virtual world as well. If I as a user leave the door open for hackers, then the onus is on me,” Chopra said.