Perth: Millennials most likely victims of cybercrime

THEY may be the internet and social media generation but new data released today shows Millennials are the most likely to fall victim to cybercrime.

The Norton Cyber Security Insights Report, released during Stay Smart Online Week, showed that more than million adult Australians were affected by cybercrime, with that number gradually increasing.

Australian Cyber Security Centre head Alastair MacGibbon said that even though digital natives had grown up with technology as an integral part of their lives, they needed to take more care of their online information.

Norton senior director Mark Gorrie said their research showed that 46 per cent of Millennials fell prey to cybercrime, putting them in the lead as the most common group to be targeted.

“While digital natives grew up with internet access, the data reveals they are also the most relaxed when it comes to their digital hygiene with basic and free security measures being ignored,” he said.

The report revealed 37 per cent of Millennials admitted to having at least one device without any protective measures and were the group most likely to share their password. Nearly 42 per cent said at least one other person knew the code to access their smartphones, while 37 per cent had shared the login details to their laptops.

This is in significant contrast to Gen X users, where only a quarter had shared the passwords to their smartphones and laptops.

Mr MacGibbon said that strong, unique and private passwords were a key weapon in the fight against cybercrime.

“We learn how to protect ourselves in the offline world and there are some very simple offline habits that we can apply in our online space,” he said.

“Passwords are like keys, instead of unlocking your door; they unlock your online life.

“In the offline world we have a different key for our house to our cars and our boss gives us a different key for the office.

“It’s exactly the same for our passwords — we should have a different password or better still passphrase for each of our accounts.”

For more information, visit staysmartonline.gov.au/reversethethreat.

Tips for making online passwords:

• Create strong passphrases;
• Use a different password across all of your accounts;
• Don’t share your password with anyone.

Cyber security facts:

• 6.09 million or one in four Australian adults were hit by cybercrime last year;
• 59 per cent of people use the same password across all of their devices and accounts;
• 43 per cent of cyber incidents affect small businesses with an average cost of $10,000;
• 80 per cent of Android users and 23 per cent of iOS users haven’t installed the latest software update on their device, leaving them exposed to cyber threats; and
• 87 per cent of people have taken risks on public Wi-Fi.