Cybercriminals prey on more than 1M a day

MANILA, Philippines – More than 1 million people each day are victims of cybercrime. A new study estimated that the total actual cost lost to international cybercrime syndicates is US $388 billion.

This is a combination of the actual cost of money stolen and money spent on resolving cyber attacks ($114 billion) plus the value pegged by the victims on the time they lost to cybercrime ($274 billion).

Globally, the most preventable type of cybercrimes are computer viruses or malware that prey on 54% of the total victims.

Scams take up 21%, while 10% are mobile threats.

The most likely victims of cybercrimes are men because they spend more time 4 times more then women.

More than 72% of men online have experienced cybercrime while 65% of women have fallen to cybercriminals.

As the Internet becomes more integral to daily life and people spend more time – 24 hour a week online – people appear to be too accepting of the risks and are doing too little to keep cyberthugs at bay.

The study done by StrategyOne commissioned by Norton Antivirus with 19,636 people from 24 countries all over the world.

The study did not include the Philippines but covered nearby neighbors Hong Kong and Singapore.

Researchers strongly advise Internet users to be vigilant at all times whether surfing, online shopping, or social networking.

Do not click links or open attachments from people you don’t know.

They also advise users to get added protection with security systems like anti-virus products from reputable firms. –TJ Manotoc, ABS-CBN News