In a period where companies and governments are trying to arm themselves better against cybercriminals, citizens don’t really seem to be aware of the threats they are facing. For example: TNS-Nipo has concluded based on research that the majority of the population believes it won’t be targeted by phishing e-mails, whereas actually 70% of people in the Netherlands has already been a victim of phishing. According to the research, in general people weren’t worried at all about their cyber-security and they, mistakenly, felt very safe.
Recent study by Deloitte has shown that cybercrime is costing the Netherlands 10 billion euros a year, or almost 600 euros per Dutchman. Just to illustrate how immensely high this figure actually is, The police calculates the costs of house-burglary in the Netherlands to be about 200 million a year. Even though these figures can’t be compared one on one because they aren’t precisely measured in the same way, It perfectly illustrates the scale of the problem of cybercrime.
One of the biggest issues in making sure the general gets better at defending itself against cybercrime is awareness about the subject. The TNS-Nipo research study showed that 53% percent of the population had never heard of the term ransomware, even though in 2015, 15% had actually been the victim of ransomware. If people know about the threats they can starting figuring out how to defend themselves against them. That is why the government is starting an educational campaign about cybercrime (alertonline.nl). But this doesn’t really seem enough. In my mind protecting yourself against cybercrime should be thought in school, just like how people learn to ride their bikes or how to swim at school. Because it will only become more important, and nobody wants that 10 billion in cybersecurity costs to get higher and higher.
What do you think? Do you know what threats, like ransomware, you face online? Please let me know your thoughts in a comment below!
Sources:
https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/actueel/nieuws/2016/10/03/nederlanders-niet-voorbereid-op-cybercrime
http://www2.deloitte.com/nl/nl/pages/over-deloitte/articles/cybercriminaliteit-kost-nederlandse-organisaties-10-miljard-euro-per-jaar.html
