Over 55% of Indians in 16-36 age group hit by cybercrime: Report

Globally, those born between 1980 and 2000 are the most commonly affected victims; 40% were impacted last year

Over 55 per cent of millennials (born between 1980-2000) in India have experienced cybercrime in the past year and globally, millennials are the most commonly affected victims, with 40 per cent experiencing it last year, a report revealed on Saturday.

According to the 'Norton Cyber Security Insights' report by security software firm Norton by Symantec, "Thirty-nine per cent Indian millennials have either experienced ransomware themselves or know someone who has".

"Millennials emerged as the password sharing generation in India with 34 per cent of them admitting to sharing passwords of various accounts," said Ritesh Chopra, Country Manager, Norton by Symantec, in a statement.

Of those who have experienced ransomware, 80 per cent of the millennial victims did so in the past one year alone.

Further, 18 per cent of millennial victims paid the ransom, yet, did not gain access to their files, the findings showed.

When it comes to Wi-Fi usage, 30 per cent millennials agreed to have used their neighbour's Wi-Fi network without their permissions, compared to 22 per cent of the overall respondents.

While overall, one in four consumers regularly use public Wi-Fi connections available at airports, coffee and shops, this rises to 33 per cent among millennials.

Putting their cyber security at risk, 60 per cent of these millennials are willing to give into actions such as answering a survey question, install a third-party app (43 per cent), provide access to files while online (25 per cent) and turn off their security software (24 per cent) to gain access to free public Wi-Fi.

In order to protect your information, Norton recommends these practices -- avoid password promiscuity, do not pay the ransom and backup, be in control when online, know the ins and outs of public Wi-Fi networks -- to millennials.

The Norton report is an online survey of 20,907 device users ages 18+ across 21 markets, commissioned by Norton by Symantec and produced by research firm Edelman Intelligence.