Cybercrime moves up to big time numbers

These figures of 431 million adult victims, released in the Norton Cybercrime Report 2011, follow the organisation's research in 24 countries across adults, children and teachers.

In South Africa, more than 4646 online adults fell victim to cybercrime every day in the last year, suffering $573 million in direct financial losses and an additional $995.4 million in time spent resolving the crime. Eighty four percent of the researched market has been a victim of cybercrime in their lifetime. Among these, 74% have fallen prey in the last 12 months alone.

Mobile attack

The report also revealed that 16% of South African adults online have experienced cybercrime on their mobile phone.

The Symantec Internet Security Threat Report, Volume 16, reported there were 42% more mobile vulnerabilities, globally in 2010 compared to 2009 - a sign that cybercriminals are starting to focus their efforts on the mobile space.

The number of reported new mobile operating system vulnerabilities increased, from 115 in 2009 to 163 in 2010. In addition to threats on mobile devices, increased social networking and a lack of protection are likely to be some of the main culprits behind the growing number of cybercrime victims.

Male, Millennial, Mobile

The study identifies men between 18 and 31 years old who access the Internet from their mobile phone as even more likely victims: in this group 80% have fallen prey to cybercrime. Globally, the most common - and most preventable - type of cybercrime is computer viruses and malware with 54% of respondents saying they have experienced it in their lifetime.

Viruses are followed by online scams (11%) and phishing messages (10%). Earlier this year the company's report found more than 286 million unique variations of malicious software ("malware") compared to the 240 million reported in 2009, representing a 19% increase.

"There is a serious disconnect in how people view the threat of cybercrime," said Kara Rawden, senior marketing manager, consumer - Middle East and Africa Symantec Corporation.

"Cybercrime is much more prevalent than people realize. Over the past 12 months, 62% of adults surveyed in South Africa, have suffered from online crime, while 35% have experienced offline crime, yet just 20% think they are more likely to become a victim of cybercrime than physical world crime in the next year.

"While 94% of respondents agree that more needs to be done to bring cybercriminals to justice, only 22% said that they reported cybercrime to the authorities. Fighting cybercrime is a shared responsibility. It requires us all to be more alert and to invest in our online smarts and safety."

More awareness, action needed

The disconnect between awareness and action is further illustrated by the fact that while 74% of respondents globally, say they are always aware of cybercrime, many are not taking the necessary precautions. Forty-one percent of adults indicated they don't have an up-to-date security software suite to protect their personal information online, less than half review credit card statements regularly for fraud (47%) and 60% don't use complex passwords or change them regularly.

In South Africa, 70% of mobile phone owners use their mobile phone to access the Internet and 16% of all cybercrime in South Africa occurs on mobile devices. Despite the emergence of mobile cybercrime and its associated worries, many users put their personal information at risk when accessing the internet on mobile phones. Among those who access the Internet via their mobile phone, only 17% install the most up-to-date mobile security.

For more findings, go to http://norton.com/cybercrimereport.

Report research methodology

• Between February 6, 2011 and March 14, 2011, StrategyOne conducted interviews with 19,636 people and included 12,704 adults, aged 18 and over 4,553 children aged 8-17 years and 2,379 grade 1-11 teachers from 24 countries (Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States, Belgium, Denmark, Holland, Hong Kong, Mexico, South Africa, Singapore, Poland, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates).
  
• The margin of error for the total sample of adults (n=12,704) is + 0.87% at the 95% level of confidence. The global data has been weighted to ensure all countries have equal representation: adults to n500.
  
• The financial cost of cybercrime in the last year is calculated as follows - Victims over past 12 months (per country) x average financial cost of cybercrime (per country in US currency). The value of time lost due to cybercrime experiences in the last year = Victims over past 12 months (per country) x average time cost of cybercrime (per country in US currency).
  
• Calculating the victims - Latest research from NCR shows 69% of adults in 24 countries have been a victim of cybercrime ever and of these 65% have been a victim in the past 12 months. Online population per country (24 country total = 802,872,752 according to CIA World Factbook) x% cybercrime ever per country x% cybercrime past 12 months per country = 431,504,885 (sum of 24 countries)
  
• Total value of the world's marijuana, cocaine and heroin market ($288 billion) is calculated as follows:
  
• Total value of the world's marijuana market is $141.80 billion according to the 2005 United Nations World Drug Report, http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/WDR-2005.html
  
• Total value of the world's cocaine market is $85 billion according to the 2011 United Nations World Drug Report, http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/WDR-2011.html
  
• Total value of the world's heroin trade is $61 billion according to the 2011 United Nations World Drug Report, http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/WDR-2011.html
  
• 14 cybercrime victims per second and one million cybercrime victims per day calculated as follows: victims over past 12 months (as above) 431,504,885 / 365 days per year / 24 hours / 60 minutes / 60 seconds
  
• The financial cost of cybercrime in China ($25 billion), Mexico ($15 billion) and South Africa ($573 million) is calculated as follows: Victims over past 12 months (per country) x average financial cost of cybercrime (per country in US currency).