One In Five Feel More At Risk Of Cybercrime And Fraud Since Lockdown
New polling has revealed that the risk of cybercrime is on the rise since the coronavirus lock downs. A poll by Ipsos MORI found that 58% felt that their accounts have been accessed without permission and 57% being infected with malware and viruses. Since the lockdown in March a lot of people felt more at risk of buying counterfeit goods online.
55% surveyed said they felt their devices have been infected with malware and/or viruses. 47% felt they were at risk of money being stolen from their banks. 41% have purchased counterfeit or fake goods online. And 49% saw their risk rise of someone accessing their personal information on their devices without permission.
41% of polled individuals didn’t bother to protect themselves from cybercriminals since the lockdown was implemented. This included not checking if an online company is genuine before purchasing products and sending payment information. Steps that should be taken such as deleting suspicious emails, updating password, turning on two-factor authentication have been mostly ignored. Only a small minority of users around 29% reported taking some steps to protect themselves from cyber criminals since the lockdown.
The poll found that only a third of people are taking measures to protect themselves. It is important that everyone do more to protect their devices and computers from cybercriminals and malware. Begin by installing security software to protect yourself and seek out help configure your machines.