Six out of Ten Belgians Faced Online Safety Issues in 2012

According to a research study, only half of the Belgians polled are worried or extremely worried about their online safety. My question is why are only half of them worried?

Cert.be, the Belgium Federal Cyber Emergency Team’s website recently commissioned a study on Internet safety amongst 2,000 Belgian Internet users aged between 16 and 70 years. The results show that 6 out of 10 Belgians had been confronted with online safety issues in 2012.

Cybercrime has been mentioned time and time again in the media in recent months. Typically the reports involve companies or organizations that are targeted by cyber criminals. Why is it that everyday online consumers and small online business owners – although they acknowledge that other individuals and entities just like them have had security breaches – aren’t afraid enough of the threat to start protecting themselves and their websites from hackers and identity thieves?

Interestingly enough, the CERT.be study shows that increasingly, end users are facing various security problems more often than ever. Here’s how the data looks based on the study:

Security and Safety Threat                                        Percent of Users Affected by the Threat      

Viruses or malware that directly harm the computer                            25.72%

Malicious attempts to steal money or information                               18.56%

The sending of unwanted e-mails from one’s own address                 17.16%

Passwords that suddenly stop working                                                 14.03%

Almost half of the Internet users in Belgium (49.15%) are highly to very highly concerned about their online security. A third (34.78%) appear to be neutral, while 16.07% said that they had no anxieties at all. The greatest anxieties relate to Internet banking (where 60.75% are worried) and online shopping (46.17%).

It is no coincidence that these are two activities where money directly changes hands. More than a third of the Belgians immediately become cautious when surfing to unknown sites (35.12%) or when receiving requests for personal information (34.73%). Social networking has a quarter of Belgians concerned, while surfing on a public wireless network seems to cause only 14.98% of Belgians any anxieties.

The concern however is not immediately reflected in behavior, as preventative measures, like online business owners scanning their sites for vulnerabilities, have not increased significantly. For example, 40% of the Belgians researched only change their passwords in case of problems or if they have forgotten their passwords. Twenty-two percent of the participants never change their passwords unless they are required to do so.

Christian Van Heurck, coordinator of CERT.be, states that "Cybercrime is increasingly becoming a reality for end users as well. It's no longer just about viruses and malware, but also increasingly about attempts to steal personal information or to misuse financial accounts. It is true that people are worried, but they often fail to assess the risks correctly, and often do not know how to optimally protect themselves.

“For this reason, we are currently working hard on developing a central website where end users can find objective information concerning Internet threats and will also receive tips on how to better protect themselves. The aforesaid results clearly show that there is need for it. "

Like waiting to brush your teeth until the dentist pulls them out, online consumers and business owners often wait until their identity has been stolen or their website has been hacked before doing anything to remedy the situation.