Cybercrime in the World and Five Rules to Combat It

Sep 11, 2010
Joe Nowak

Recognize and Prevent Cybercrime - GNU Lesser General Public License by Kizar

According to a recent survey, "65% of adults worldwide have been a victim of cybercrime." The numbers may vary, but every country polled exceeded 50%.

In February 2010, StrategyOne, a market research firm, conducted an online survey of over 7,000 adults, from 15 countries (Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States).

Unless otherwise stated all statistics mentioned here will be from the global (all participating countries) and not any single country. The report generated from the collected survey explores the extent of cybercrime, the emotions of victims, computer ethics and rules to help reduce the chances of being victimized by cyber criminals.

Quantities and Types of Cybercrime

Those surveyed suggest that 65% of adults around the world have been victims of some form of cybercrime. Of the 15 countries surveyed, the top four were:

China with 83%
Brazil and India tied at 76%
United States at 73%

The types of cybercrime are primarily from viruses and malware (51%) but are not the only crimes perpetrated against users.

Online Scams: An attempt to get a victim to invest money in a bogus product, company, or idea. 10%
Phishing: Attempt to obtain sensitive information such as credit cards, account numbers, user logins and passwords. 9%
Social Network Hacking/Social Engineering: Cyber criminals may pose as a bank representative or IT security personnel and ask for a password in order to “update the system.” 7%
Online Credit Card Fraud: Criminals use stolen credit cards to purchase items on the Internet where additional id is not usually required. 7%
Sexual Predation: An attempt to have sexual contact with someone in a predatory manner, such as an underage person. 7%

Emotional Effects of the Global Cybercrime Wave

With nearly 65% of the world population victimized by these cybercrimes, emotions and morale of victims is low.

97% believe even if they have not been targeted by a cyber criminal so far, at some point they will become a cyber victim.
91% do not feel “safe” online.

This makes victims feel powerless and fearful. Roughly 79% of victims believe the cyber criminals will never be brought to justice and that is because they are literally faceless. They commit their crime and then disappear into cyberspace with their ill-gotten gains.

Cyber criminals Close to Home

While many people feel angry and powerless about their victimization, few recognize or acknowledge their own online criminal participation. Worldwide, 45% have lied about personal details, and 33% have used fake IDs online for various questionable purposes. Yet nearly half (45%) believe that an online reputation will follow a person wherever they go and is like a “digital tattoo” that cannot be removed with laser surgery.

Five Rules to Reduce the Chance of Becoming a Cybercrime Victim

All the participants surveyed were asked for rules or actions they could take that would reduce the likelihood they would become victims. The rules that follow are compiled from all the countries participating in the survey.

Never give out a password. (75%)
Do not provide any more personal information than is absolutely necessary. (73%)
Don’t access or open links or attachments provided from strangers. (71%)
Be careful of “too good to be true” offers (schemes) made by strangers (69%)
Keep financial data and accounts safe and secure through the use of appropriate security software. (69%)

Unfortunately, even these precautions are not always enough. Just as reasonable security precautions for personal property or safety will be enough to insure safety from the amateur or unskilled criminal, the same holds true for cyber criminals. The above rules will stop the amateurs but not the hard core criminals. (For additional suggestions for dealing with cybercrime read Safety Tips for Adults Using Social Media and Social Network Safety Guidelines.)

Cybercrime is a global problem. The chance of catching these criminals and bringing them to justice is small. The best way to resist them is to follow the rules listed above and provide oneself with adequate software security (anti virus, anti spyware, anti malware, firewall protection, etc.) at all levels.

To obtain a copy of the Norton Cybercrime Report and individual country data sheets, read Norton Cybercrime Report: The Human Impact