Multiple staggering statistics have surfaced around online scams and cyberattacks, revealing nearly 50% of employees have been victims.
Cyber attacks are becoming more sophisticated than technologies, and awareness around them is spreading. A new global survey comprising 20,000 employed adults revealed that almost half of them have fallen victim to an online scam or a cyberattack. This includes people whose personal data, financial credentials, email account information, and more.
The survey revealed that the victims were reactive to cyber threats rather than being proactive in their personal (45%) and professional (44%) lives. The survey respondents reported that online scams and phishing attacks have grown much more sophisticated due to the involvement of Artificial Intelligence technologies.
50% of the respondents were exposed to a cyberattack at least once in the last year at work. Out of those, less than 23% said that the company they work for responded with training and awareness to prevent future risks.
In the case of those whose personal data was compromised, 20% reported that the hacker accessed more than one personal account, including banking and Email. 1 in 5 employees claim that their company updated cybersecurity measures and policies on an as-needed basis. As a result, or more precisely, as a side effect, over 22% of the victims faced monetary loss. Out of them, 30% stated that they have strong doubts that their personal data will ever be safe online again in the future.
The most common reason why these cyberattacks are successful is the oversimplified protection practices most digital users follow. Over 39% of people use a username and password as a security measure. These passwords are often used repeatedly across other platforms and accounts, allowing the hacker to access multiple accounts in one attack. Though highly effective, two-factor authentication has not yet been adopted by the masses.
While passwords have been the go-to method for logging into accounts and securing information, they’re inherently insecure. People tend to reuse passwords across multiple accounts and use weak passwords, which allows hackers to breach multiple accounts with a single login. Along with that, people are often tricked into sharing their passwords due to the sophistication of today’s phishing attacks. Using a username and password to protect accounts and information is the least secure form of data protection,” said Derek Hanson, vice president of standards and alliances at Yubico.
As part of the ongoing cybersecurity month, MobileAppDaily urges its readers to follow strict password protection practices, enable two-factor authentication on every platform that facilitates it, and frequently change passwords. We also request users not keep the same password for social and banking accounts, as social media accounts are the most hacked ones.
