A Kaspersky Labs study found some consumers are tremendously worried about hacking and malware, while almost half are not concerned at all and others simply believe they are not of interest to cybercriminals.
General complacency concerning security was one of the major story lines in the report, despite that fact that 25 percent of the respondents reported experiencing some form of account hacking in the prior 12 months and an additional 32 percent saying they know of others who have been impacted.
“Many consumers underestimate how vulnerable they are to cyber threats and are storing personal data on connected devices, but fail to properly protect their devices and data from theft or loss or their families from online risks,” the report stated.
Source: Kaspersky Labs The company's 2015 Consumer Security Risks Survey found 46 percent of those surveyed believe they are not a target for a cyberattack and only just over half, 54 percent; believe the number of online security threats is increasing significantly. More alarmingly 23 percent don't believe security is essential and thought software security companies are a gimmick and 19 percent take no precautions at all to protect their data.Consumers are also grossly unaware of the dangers posed by using public Wi-Fi hotspots. Only 18 percent said they ensured the Wi-Fi network being used is secure and 13 percent have no problem shopping or logging into different accounts while on an unsecured wireless network.
However, of those who are aware of security issues 68 percent worry most about malware that can gather data or passwords from a device and about online hacking. Threats to personal financial data are the next major concern for 63 percent of those in this particular survey segment. Phishing emails are on the mind of 60 percent, while another 54 percent are annoyed by adware.
The survey comprised 12,355 people aged 16 and older from 26 countries.
