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November 23, 2015

1 in 5 Brits fall victim to cybercrime, racking up £1.6bn bill

News: Basic precautions against cybercrime still not being taken.

By Charlotte Henry

Norton has today launched its Cyber Security Insights report that reveals 1 in 5 Brits have experienced cybercrime in the last year, a total of 12m people.

1 in 7 of those victims have had their financial information stolen as a result of shopping online, while 1 in 10 had their identity stolen, and 15% were affected by ransomware.

Dealing with the fallout out costs Brits £1.6bn in total.

The number of British people affected during their lifetime is now 44%, with security breaches now so widespread that 1 in 3 Millenials do not think breaches have any real consequence anymore.

However, despite widespread nature of cybercrime, the report revealed that many did not take basic security measures to help protect them.

42% did not change their password after a breach, the same percentage of Brits who do now "always" use a secure password.

Furthermore, 1 in 3 do not have a password on their phone, with the problem particularly acute in the Baby Boomer generation, where only 54% know how to update the privacy settings on their phone.

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People also share passwords to their private online accounts with friends and family, with a quarter of those who do share passwords admitting they have even shared the details to their online banking.

"We no longer need convincing of the risks," said Nick Shaw, EMEA General Manager, Norton Business Unit. "Our findings demonstrate that people’s trust in online activity has been rattled, yet there still is not widespread adoption of simple protection measures that people should take to safeguard their information online."

Brits are also clear who they blame for this rise in cyber crime. 45% said foreign governments are behind the attacks, compared to 35% globally.

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