Majority of Americans fear some form of cyberwarfare

Cyber war

The war in Ukraine has highlighted the role that the cyber world has to play in modern conflict and a new survey from NordVPN finds that 93 percent of Americans believe that another country could launch cyberwarfare against the US.

What's more, of over 1,000 consumers surveyed only 19 percent feel 100 percent confident in the government's ability to protect them, despite the fact that 70 percent rank the US as the most secure country for cyber war attacks.

"Cyber warfare is carried out for many different reasons and between a variety of groups. Even during peacetime, we’ve seen concerted online efforts by Russia, China, and others to interfere with the democratic processes of the US and other allies," says Daniel Markuson, digital privacy expert at NordVPN.

The study also finds that 35 percent of Americans are making some kind of active preparation for cyberwar. This includes 52 percent who actively update all software for computers and mobile devices, 48 percent backup important documents offline and 46 percent back up computer and mobile devices offline.

In addition 46 percent actively change their important passwords, and 40 percent back up emails offline. Some also take extra precautions with 37 percent holding a cash reserve in the event they can't access finances or credit cards online, and 31 percent having generators installed, and/or food and water storage in case utilities get shut down.

The study finds 71 percent fear losing access to their finances while 63 percent fear losing access to utilities and 61 percent losing access to the internet.

"While we can't personally stop losing temporary access to the internet, the electrical grid or financial services, we can prepare our personal information so we don't lose it forever from attacks from hackers and malware," adds Markuson. "By using more sophisticated backup tools such as NordLocker, files stay encrypted and will still be available once the electric grid recovers."

You can read more on the NordVPN blog.

Image credit: PantherMediaSeller/depositphotos.com

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