Nearly half don't use mobile security solutions

A new report from Bitdefender shows that 45 percent of consumers don't use mobile security solutions, despite the fact that 78 percent conduct sensitive transactions on their devices.

Based on an independent global survey of over 7,000 consumers, the report looks at top security behaviors, practices and concerns across their digital footprint and lifestyle.

It shows the majority of respondents (67 percent) are concerned about the security and privacy of artificial intelligence. Geography plays a part in this as respondents in Spain are most concerned at 80 percent, in stark contrast to Italy where only 49 percent say the same. AI's appetite for personal data to feed its machine-learning algorithms has raised serious concerns about data storage, usage, and access -- concerns that traditional data protection laws are not equipped to answer.

"The results of this survey demonstrate, more than ever, the importance of cybersecurity awareness as cybercriminals increase their attacks on consumers in both frequency and sophistication," says Ciprian Istrate, senior vice president of operations at Bitdefender Consumer Solutions Group. "The sudden rise of AI adoption by cybercriminals has been a game changer and poses an unprecedented threat to consumers’ digital safety. With a surge in AI-assisted texting scams, fraud attempts, and expertly crafted phishing emails, it is imperative consumers remain vigilant to understand, prioritize, and apply cybersecurity best practices."

The top ranked concern for consumers is cybercriminals accessing their finances at 48 percent followed by identity protection at 17 percent. Of all those surveyed, nearly a quarter (24 percent) report that they experienced one or more security incidents in the last 12 months. At 37.6 percent, Australia leads the number of respondents who experience a security incident followed by Spain (27.7 percent), US (26.7 percent) and Germany (26.3 percent). Italy has the fewest number at 16.14 percent followed by UK (17.2 percent) and France (19.6 percent).

SMS scams are the most experienced security incident by 45.4 percent of overall respondents edging out fraud attempts at 44 percent, phishing email (42 percent), data exposure (27.5 percent), malware infection (18.3 percent) and doxxing (9.7 percent).

Poor password habits remain an issue too. 37 percent admit to writing their passwords down and 34 percent use the same password for two or more accounts. 17.3 percent use their web browser's autofill feature and 14.4 percent use Apple's strong password autofill feature. On a positive note though 23 percent of those surveyed say they use a password manager.

The full 2024 Consumer Cybersecurity Assessment Report is available from the Bitdefender site.

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