The region’s biggest consumer electronics show- Gitex Shopper is here, which means a significant number of UAE residents will soon update their personal electronics.
Before splurging on the latest gizmos, it might be worth thinking about how safe – or unsafe – it currently is online. How many people run the risk of falling victim to cybercriminals today, without suspecting it? And how many have been targeted already? To assess the situation Kaspersky Lab is launching its Kaspersky Cybersecurity Index – the first global index to measure the current cyberthreat levels faced by Internet users.
Kaspersky Lab has previously joined forces with B2B International to carry out regular large-scale online surveys in different countries, in order to evaluate how Internet users behave online, what their concerns are, what issues they face and how they defend themselves against possible threats. The Kaspersky Cybersecurity Index is based on this data, collected from thousands of users across the globe.
The index combines three key indicators, which are measured every six months and which provide the information needed to monitor the degree of risk to the average Internet user.
• The Concerned Indicator shows the percentage of people who believe they may be targeted by a cyberattack. This indicator shows the degree to which users realize the danger to which they are exposed.
• The Affected Indicator identifies how many people have actually fallen victim to cyberattacks during the reporting period – e.g., have faced data leakage or extortion online.
• The Protected Indicator shows the number of users who have installed a security solution on the device they use to access the Internet. This is the average figure for all the devices used, including computers and mobile devices.
The Cybersecurity Index is formed from a detailed survey carried out in August 2016, in 21 countries across the globe.
According to the data, only 21% of users in the UAE currently believe he or she is threatened by anything online. Interestingly, double the number of users (42%) have actually fallen victim to cybercriminal schemes.
However, only 47% of UAE users have installed security solutions on all their devices to access the Internet. The Index demonstrates that, today, many users underestimate cyberthreats even after facing them. This attitude inevitably affects their security.
“We created the Index to draw the attention of users, the media and vendors to the issue of cybersecurity. Many users today, we believe, do not expect to come face-to-face with cyberthreats, so they fail to install security solutions on their devices and behave carelessly online. This makes them easy targets for cybercriminals. The Index reflects the results of this approach: globally today, 29% of people have been affected by online threats. We are calling on all Internet users to improve their cyber savviness and adopt a responsible approach, both for their own protection and to that of their loved ones. Security, we believe, must be shared,” believes Andrei Mochola, Head of Consumer Business at Kaspersky Lab.