People are becoming more cyber savvy: Kaspersky Lab

The number of people who are concerned about their security and are ready to protect themselves against cyberthreats has increased in the second half of 2016, Kaspersky Lab's updated index has revealed.

The Kaspersky Cybersecurity Index -- a set of indicators that allow the evaluation of the level of risk for internet users worldwide -- has revised indicators to more accurately reflect the digital life of users in different countries.

"The Kaspersky Cybersecurity Index for the second half of 2016 shows positive dynamics which, we hope, will continue. At Kaspersky Lab we are doing everything we can to tell as many people as possible about cyberthreats and the ways to combat them," Andrei Mochola, Head of Consumer Business at Kaspersky Lab, said in a statement on Saturday.

Kaspersky Cybersecurity Index users can now view the statistics on the specific financial losses that have occurred as a result of cybercriminal activity, as well as compare the data for different groups of users, for example, the use of smartphones between senior citizens in the US and young people in Sweden.

The global Index for the second half of 2016 showed that 74 per cent of users did not believe that they could become cybercriminal targets (as compared to 79 per cent in the first half of 2016).

Almost 39 per cent of respondents did not use protection solutions on all their connected devices (as compared to 40 per cent in the first half of 2016) and similar to the first half of 2016, 29 per cent of those surveyed have been affected by cyberthreats in the second half of the last year.

The percentage of cybercrime victims remained at the same level (29 per cent) only because this indicator in the current Index update has been changed.

The number of users that encountered malware dropped from 22 per cent to 20 per cent; the costs for eliminating the consequences of infection declined from $121 to $92. However, the percentage of those that have fallen victim to other types of threats increased.

--IANS

sku/ksk/bg