A study conducted by Symantec revealed that Internet crime has grown rampant worldwide.
The study, which comprises 7,000 adults from 14 nations, showed intriguing insights into consumers’ negligent attitudes toward online piracy, plagiarism, and other unethical and illegal activities.
About 65% of the participant in the “Norton Cybercrime Report: The Human Impact”, which was out Wednesday, said that they have been a victim of online crime. This includes virus or malware attacks, phishing, hacking of social network profiles, online scams, credit card fraud, and sexual predation.
Malware or malicious software attacks, by far has been the most common form of cybercrime. About half of the respondents said that they have been affected by malwares. However, the victim rate dropped considerably. For instance, about 10 percent of the adult participants said that they have fallen prey to online scams, and only 7 percent encountered credit card fraud.
China is on top of the list of online crime spot. About 83 percent of respondents from china were victims of Internet crime. India and Brazil tied just behind China with 76 percent. The US came in third with 73 percent.
The Norton report has some provocative implications for businesses. The report revealed that 28 percent of adults worldwide expect to be a victim of frauds online. 86 percent or nine out of ten think about cybercrime.
Talking about digital piracy, many people are enthusiastic to join in online activities that are clearly illegal offline. About 15 out of 100 people wrongfully think that it is legal to download a movie, music track, or an album without paying for it.
It is no doubt that the anonymous nature of the internet is the main reason why the public have this attitude towards online piracy. Some said that it is just fine to do it, regarding that you would not get caught.
However, three out of four people said that they would not share passwords or open e-mail attachments from strangers. Just proves that efforts to educate online public are working, although in gradual pace.
