Important files have disappeared, computers are locked – even private users can quickly become victims of cyber criminals. But there is a surprising trend.
A quarter of the people in Germany have already been victims of cybercrime. These include unauthorized access, malware and online fraud. Young people in particular are at risk, according to an online survey.
The “Digital Barometer 2021” was presented on Wednesday in Berlin by the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) and the Police Crime Prevention of the federal states and the federal government.
When it comes to criminal offenses, third-party access to an online account is at the top of the statistics with 31 percent. This is followed by the download of malware (28 percent) and “phishing” (25 percent). “Phishing” is the attempt to elicit access data to online accounts or bank accounts from the victims.
27 percent of those affected have lost important data, 11 percent suffered actual financial damage, which was usually between 20 and 2000 euros. Contrary to the general trend towards more online shopping during the pandemic, according to the “Digital Barometer 2021”, the number of frauds in this area is falling for the third year in a row: in 2019 it was 36 percent, in 2020 the value was 32 percent and in 2021 only 19 percent .
BSI Vice President Gerhard Schabhüser referred to a positive trend in prevention: “The respondents know more measures to protect themselves and implement them. Particularly gratifying: the number of respondents who use secure passwords is steadily increasing to more than half. ” Nevertheless, the prejudice that IT security is complicated persists. It is more about the consistent implementation of known protective measures.
“Although two thirds of those surveyed know the current recommendations, only 12 percent implement them completely,” said Schabhüser. According to the study, 89 percent of those who implement it said that it was easier than expected.
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