A new survey released this week Monday from Malwarebytes, the well-known security software company, reported that women, minority groups and those with lower incomes and education levels are more likely to fall victim to cybercrime.
For example:
More women report receiving text messages from unknown numbers that include malicious links than men (79% vs 73%).
Almost half of women (46%) reported having their social-media accounts hacked, compared to 37% of male respondents.
Women feel less private than men online (53% vs 47%) and far less safe while using technology (35% vs 27%).
More than one-fifth of women respondents (21%) reported experiencing “substantial” stress in dealing with online suspicious activity, compared to their male counterparts (17%).
A relatively less surprising finding was that those 65 years or older, regardless of gender account for 36% of credit card theft – far more than any other age group.
The Takeaway
So why are there so many more women than men falling victim cybercrime? Why do women report feeling a general sense of being unsafe in cyberspace? The study suggests that the answer is a socioeconomic one. The unfortunate finding from this data points to one possible answer: The more money you make, the more comfortable you are online. Even if you lose some money to an attack, the confidence and ability to earn it back has a significant role in how safe the individual has in feeling safe online.
It should be noted that none of the study’s respondents were successful in completely avoiding suspicious online activity, no matter their gender, race, age, income or education level.
Hopefully we can help with some resources. Our blog has current, curated information about how to best keep yourself safe online. Cylanda has a free content on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. Click any of those links and be sure to subscribe for the latest news, tips and ways to protect yourself.
If you feel that your organization could improve its security posture from a more structured approach, we have employee cybersecurity awareness training available here.
Stay safe out there
-A
PS. Malwarebytes polled 5,000 people in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States for their study. Their findings may be found here.