WITH the variety and sophistication of online financial threats against consumers, losses from online fraud, identity theft, and hacking are now running at billions a year, a study from a global security firm said.
Over half (52 percent) of Internet users who’ve lost money to cybercriminals have only got some, or none, of their stolen funds back, the Kasperksy Lab research revealed.
On average, Internet users lose $476 per attack and one in 10 people surveyed said they lost more than $5,000. A large majority of Internet users said they conduct financial operations online (81 percent) and just under half (44 percent) store financial data on their connected devices.
Kaspersky said that as more users go online to manage their finances, more cybercriminals are looking for opportunities to cash in, making it important for users to have robust Internet security in place to protect themselves and their money.
However, only 60 percent of Internet users protect all their devices.
“Cybercriminals are continually looking for new ways to exploit and defraud consumers and that’s why it’s important for Internet users to be on their guard at all times,” said Vyacheslav Zakorzhevsky, head of the Anti-Malware Research Team at Kaspersky Lab.
Zakorzhevsky said that cybercriminals can conduct financial crimes via malware and phishing. He recommends that internet users safeguard their devices and install specialist software to protect identity and keep sensitive data secure.