2.5mn UAE consumers affected by cybercrime last year

Dubai / Emirates Business

Norton by Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC), on Tuesday released findings from its annual Norton Cyber Security Insights Report, revealing 2.53 million consumers in the UAE have been victims of online crime in the past year as hackers take advantage of consumer complacency. The report shows that despite spending more than AED 5.2 billion (US $1.4 billion) and an average of 31.5 hours per victim dealing with the consequences, UAE consumers affected by cybercrime in the past year are the most likely to continue engaging in risky online behavior, leaving themselves vulnerable to further attacks.
The report, a survey of nearly 21,000 consumers globally, including 883 in the UAE, sheds a light on the impact of cybercrime and reveals that while consumer awareness of cybercrime is growing, many are complacent about protecting their personal information. Nearly seven in 10 (68 per cent) know they must actively protect their information online, yet are still willing to click on links or open malicious attachments from senders they don’t know.
Millennials in the UAE are the most commonly affected by online crime, with 53 per cent having experienced it within the past year. Men (52 per cent), and frequent travelers (50 per cent) were also likely to report higher incidents of cybercrime.
Consumer complacency and risky online behaviours are helping hackers reap rewards from their efforts as they continue to hone their craft and adapt scams. Although phishing scams have been around for more than two decades, people still have a hard time identifying fake emails. Nearly one-third of UAE consumers are unable to identify a phishing attack.
“Our findings show that people are growing increasingly aware of the need to protect their personal information online, but aren’t motivated to take adequate precautions to stay safe,” said Tamim Taufiq, Head of Norton Middle East. “While consumers remain complacent, hackers are refining their skills and adapting their scams to further take advantage of people, making the need for consumers to take some action increasingly important.”

Hackers hone skills to reap rewards
As consumers remain complacent with their online security habits, hackers are taking full advantage, honing their skills to compromise online accounts.
• While two in five (42%) feel overwhelmed about the amount of information they need to protect themselves online, more than half (55%) believe that online safety should be self-taught, which could leave more people at risk given rampant ignorance about online security.
• While only one-quarter (24%) admit it is unlikely they would be able to recognize a fraudulent email asking for financial information, an experiment in the survey, putting consumers to the test, shows very different results. When asked to identify a real and fake banking email, a third (39%) of the UAE consumers were vulnerable to falling for the phishing e-mail. Furthermore, of those who have been phished, a majority (87%) experienced a negative outcome such as an
account or data compromise.
• As a result of consumer complacency in protecting connected devices, risky online habits and sharing passwords, there has been 420,000 more consumers in the UAE affected by cybercrime in the last year.

Bad Habits Are Hard
to Break
Experiencing cybercrime is a potential consequence of living in a connected world, but consumers still remain complacent and demonstrate risky online habits when it comes to protecting their personal information online.
• UAE consumers are still willing to click on links from senders they don’t know or open malicious attachments. Three in ten (%) cannot detect a phishing attack, and another nine per cent have to guess between a real message and a phishing email, meaning nearly four in 10 are vulnerable.
• With a love for constant connectivity, nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of UAE consumers are willing to install a third party programme to access public Wi-Fi rather than go without.