$19.4 Billion Lost to Cybercriminals in 2017
As we make our way into 2018, many look back at how 2017 wrapped up. Cybersecurity firm Symantec, makers of Norton antivirus software, investigated and reported on the large amount of people who have been affected by cybercrime throughout the last year.
The report shows that 69% of millennials feel victim to cybercrime, and overall, about 143 million people in the U.S. alone were hit by some form of malware, virus, spyware, or a phishing scam. Globally, the number jumps to 978 million internet users who were scammed by tech savvy criminals. The monetary results of these scams is about $19.4 billion lost to cybercriminals in the U.S., and about 20 hours of time dealing with the impact; globally, the amount jumps to $172 billion.
Many of these losses can be attributed to consumers making some basic missteps in securing their own data. For example, 60% of U.S. users affected have shared at least one of their passwords to one of their accounts with another person, putting them at an even higher risk of being hacked, especially if the other people gets hacked. Symantec has a few suggestions to make 2018 a safer and less expensive cyber year for you including changing your passwords every few months or more often, using different passwords for different accounts, as well as using an antivirus program for extra protection. To learn more about cybercriminals and how to protect yourself from them, visit here.
