The risks of cybercrime…

Guest post from Simon Ellson.

With the evolution of technology comes the development of a whole load of other things, including crime. Over the years crime in the virtual world – also known as cybercrime- has increased. Our own, Norton Cybercrime Report shows that cybercrime is a hundred times bigger than the annual expenditure of UNICEF.

What sets cybercrime apart from other crime is that it can happen to anyone, at any time, and often it involves your personal details – the information that you go at lengths to protect – being stolen.

Take Jacquelyn Moulds from Clapham, London. She had over £4000 go missing from her savings account. After contacting the bank she was told that she’d been the victim of a phishing scam; someone had obtained her bank log-in details, logged into her account and set up a new payment – there was no trace of who or where the money had been sent to.

The investigations carried out showed that Jacquelyn’s account details had been stolen whilst she was accessing her account online. When exactly they were stolen was unknown and because Jacquelyn accessed her account from multiple computers, it was difficult to pinpoint the exact time and computer her details were stolen from.

Luckily, Jacquelyn’s bank reimbursed her money, however, this is does not happen in all cases. It’s therefore important to be vigilant: use strong passwords, don’t click on suspicious emails or web links, only make payments on secure websites and of course get your computer or device protected.

Jacquelyn’s story is just one example of cybercrime. If you or anyone you know has been a victim of cybercrime, then get in touch and help us to increase the awareness of the risks of cybercrime.

November 14, 2011 | Filed Under Identity theft, Norton Cybercrime Report, Security, Spam | Leave a Comment 

Keeping the Internet’s bogeymen out!

Guest post from Simon Ellson.

The Internet is full of tricks and treats. It provides us with endless entertainment and opportunities to connect with one another, but it does also put us and our family in potential risk, 24 hours a day.

The recent Norton Cybercrime Report showed that online scams is amongst the top three types of cybercrime – even web-savvy adults fall for them! With little education, however, we can all learn methods to avoid such problems and stay safe.

But what about the children? How do we ensure that our kids stay safe online, without us peering over the shoulders? The same answer – education!

Whilst teaching kids to limit the information that they share with others and how to appropriately use security and privacy settings helps them to stay safe online, kids need to taught how to keep the door closed for the Internet’s bogeymen.

And how do we do this? Similar to how we teach our children the rules of trick-or-treating e.g. staying on the pavement, crossing the street carefully, avoiding unwrapped or homemade treats and coming home before it’s too late. We can teach children the internet’s equivalents:

1. Be careful about what they  click on – stick to well-known Internet sites and use search ratings tools like Norton Safe Web to avoid going to dangerous website

2. Teach your child never to respond to spam and to delete unwanted messages – Marian Merritt, Norton’s internet safety advocate, mentioned in a recent blog post that some of the most common scams that trick children are pop-up ads that:

  • Promise you can easily win great prizes like a tablet or gaming system
  • Claim to detect viruses on your computer and offer to clean them
  • Offer to speed up your computer

3.  Use security software on all computers as well as mobile phones and tablets.

4. Set up unique and complex passwords and ensure that your children share them with you but no one else.

5. Talk to your child about Internet scams, misleading advertising, spam Instant Message or social network friend requests, and other online tricks you know to avoid but they may not.

October 28, 2011 | Filed Under Family Online Safety, Identity theft, Norton Cybercrime Report, Security, Spam | Leave a Comment 

Norton Cybercrime Report 2011

This week you may have seen the launch of our yearly Norton Cybercrime Report, our study of online behavior trends and cybercrime.

The study has identified men between 18 and 31 years old who access the Internet from their mobile phone are even more likely to be victims of cybercrime. In this group 7 in 10 (70%) have experienced cybercrime in their lifetime of which 58 percent have fallen prey to cybercrime within the past 12 months in the UK.

The most common and most preventable type of cybercrime in the UK is computer viruses and malware which 38 percent of respondents have encountered. Viruses are followed by credit card fraud (10%) and social network hacking (6%). Social networking and a lack of protection are likely to be some of the main culprits behind the growing number of cybercrime victims.

My colleague Adam Palmer has lent us his thoughts:

“There is a serious disconnect in how people view the threat of cybercrime.

Cybercrime is much more prevalent than people realise. Over the past 12 months, three times as many adults surveyed have suffered from online crime versus offline crime, yet less than a third of respondents think they are more likely to become a victim of cybercrime than physical world crime in the next year.

With the increasing sophistication of cyber threats and the staggering amount of money lost to cybercriminals, it’s important for people to think seriously about how they are protected online, otherwise they risk losing their hard-earned cash.”

Do you agree with Adam and his analysis?

Let us know by leaving a comment, or follow us on Twitter @norton_uk

September 9, 2011 | Filed Under Norton Cybercrime Report | Leave a Comment 

Norton Cybercrime Report 2011

Yesterday we launched our Norton Cybercrime Report, our yearly research into online behaviour.

One emerging trend is that of ‘cyber snooping,’ where we’re seeing Brits targeting their nearest and dearest to keep an eye on on their online activities.

Our report has revealed that 1 in 5 women admit to logging into their partner’s email or social network account without permission, but only 1 in 10 men have done the same. Twice as many women have had an argument with their partner as a result of information they have found online.

15 per cent of the population admitted to ‘cyber snooping’ on their partner, which illustrates how suspicions over online behaviour are becoming a conventional part of modern day relationships.

Over 50 per cent of under 25 year-olds share their email or social network passwords with their partner, but this level of trust decreases with age. 45-54 year-olds are the least likely to share their password.

Some other key stats

  • 13 percent of Brits lie about their age online with an almost equal split between men and women
  • Men are more likely to lie about their financial status (9 per cent of male respondents), while women are more likely to lie about their weight online (9 per cent of females)
  • Millennials (18-31 years-old) are four times more likely than the baby boom generation (47-65 years-old) to lie about their relationship status (8 per cent of Millennials compared to 2 per cent of Boomers)

Do your experiences online match with our report results?

Let us know by leaving a comment, or follow us on Twitter @norton_uk

September 8, 2011 | Filed Under Norton Cybercrime Report | Leave a Comment