Norton Research shows a third of New Zealanders surveyed have been victims of cybercrime in the past 12 months

A Norton study found that 5% of New Zealanders surveyed experienced identity theft in 2021,
while 10% of respondents clicked on a fraudulent package notification link
in the last 12 months

Over the past year, the continued shift from physical to virtual contact has provided fertile ground for cybercriminals: 33% of New Zealanders surveyed by Norton said they had been victims of cybercrime in the past 12 months alone. Due to the pandemic, we continue to connect to the Internet for everything from work and school to entertainment, social connections and shopping, but cybercriminals have taken advantage of this to launch attacks on consumers and compelling scams.

The Norton Cyber ​​Safety Insights 2022 report conducted online in partnership with The Harris Poll with over 10,000 adults in 10 countries, including 1,000 adults in New Zealand, found that victims of cybercrime in New Zealand have spent an average of 4.8 hours trying to solve their problems, with an average loss of NZ$135 due to cybercrime.

The Norton Cyber ​​Safety Insights report found that the most common cybercrime New Zealanders surveyed had ever experienced was the detection of unauthorized access to an online account (37%). Almost a third of respondents (31%) say they have detected malware (e.g. spyware, ransomware, viruses, worms, Trojans, adware) on a computer, network Wi-Fi, smartphone, tablet, smart home or other connected devices. device.

“The fact that a third of Kiwis surveyed have been victims of cybercrime in the past year shows that cybercriminals are increasingly taking advantage of our increased digital footprint. As we face an ongoing pandemic with labor and school oscillating between in-person and online, businesses and individuals will have an ongoing responsibility to ensure the appropriate protections are in place to defend against cybercriminals,” said Mark Gorrie, Senior Director, Asia Pacific, NortonLifeLock.

Identity theft

More than one in five New Zealand adults surveyed (21%) say they have experienced identity theft, up from 16% in 2020, with 5% affected in the past year alone, equating to more than 193,000 Kiwis.

Among those who have been victims of identity theft, more than two in five (43%) discovered the theft themselves, most often by monitoring their financial accounts online (18%). More than one in three were notified of their identity theft by an outside source (36%), and more than one in five (21%) said they were notified by their bank or credit card company1 .

The vast majority of identity theft victims (95%) surveyed say they have felt some impact, freezing their credit card(s) (47%), devoting their time to resolving the issues created ( 33%) or having money stolen (29%)1.

The survey found young New Zealanders are more likely than their older counterparts to be caught off guard if faced with identity theft, saying they never thought their identity could being stolen (46% aged 18-39 versus 35% aged 40+).

“Young Kiwis may feel more invincible because they are more tech savvy; However, the fact is that cybercriminals do not distinguish between the age of victims and launch attacks whenever they detect vulnerabilities in anything from easy-to-guess login credentials, online connections not or devices that aren’t updated to fix security vulnerabilities,” says Gorrie.

Data privacy

Most New Zealanders surveyed are concerned about data privacy (82%) and want to do more to protect their data (84%). In fact, seven in ten (70%) have taken steps to hide their online footprint.

The most common actions taken are changing the default privacy settings on devices, such as changing the location permission on an app, or limiting ad tracking (34% of respondents) and enabling multi-factor authentication (34% of respondents). For some, these precautions go beyond protecting their own information, with more than two in five parents of minors surveyed (45%) saying they have used online parental controls on children’s accounts or devices.

Viruses, hacks and scams

Despite Kiwis’ efforts to protect themselves online, many still fall victim to online viruses, privacy breaches and scams. Almost half of New Zealanders (49%) say they have personally encountered a computer and/or mobile device virus, and one in five (20%) say they have encountered it several times. Additionally, almost two in five have personally experienced a phishing scam (39%) and around one in four have experienced a social media hack (28%) or email hack. emails (22%).

Finally, 10% of respondents say they have been the victim of a shipping scam in the last 12 months alone, for example by clicking on a fraudulent package notification link.

“It’s so important to maintain good digital hygiene – keep your devices up to date with the latest operating system, use strong passwords combined with multi-factor authentication, and use comprehensive security to keep your devices safe and secure. your data. Also, don’t grant apps extended permissions, let them only access what they need to function. Extended permissions could allow malware to perform unwanted tasks and spread further , so make sure you stay alert so you can take advantage of the best of the digital world to stay in touch with friends and family,” says Gorrie.

For more information on how you can help protect your digital life, please visit the Norton Internet Security Center.

About NLCSIR 2022 – Cybercrime, Identity Theft, Online Privacy, Online Rampage

This new 2022 Norton Cyber ​​Safety Insights: Online Creeping report was conducted online in New Zealand by The Harris Poll on behalf of NortonLifeLock among 1,000 adults aged 18+. The survey was conducted from November 15 to December 7, 2021. Data is weighted where necessary by age, gender, region, education, household size and marital status to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. No estimate of the theoretical sampling error can be calculated. To view the full study results and accompanying visuals, please access the press kit at: https://www.nortonlifelock.com/us/en/norton-cyber-safety-center /.

About NortonLifeLock Inc.

NortonLifeLock Inc. (NASDAQ: NLOK) is a global leader in consumer cybersecurity, protecting and enabling people to live their digital lives securely. We are the consumer’s trusted ally in an increasingly complex and connected world. See how we’re transforming cybersecurity at NortonLifeLock.com.

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