An ESET-commissioned survey sheds light on the browsing habits of Australians and how they protect themselves online
Australia is a highly interconnected country with nine in ten inhabitants being internet users, most of which use the internet every day. What do they know about cybersecurity and how do they approach it, though? A recent survey commissioned by ESET sought to find out.
The two questions above are especially pertinent, since six out of ten Australian businesses have been affected by breaches. A total of 60% of these breaches have been caused by malicious or criminal attacks, and scams have swindled Australians out of almost half a billion Australian dollars. Not to mention that identity crimes have cost them AU$2.2 billion a year.
Those are not optimistic numbers, considering the fact that nearly all respondents implied that they conduct financial transactions online. Nine in ten use internet banking and over three quarters use online transactions to settle their utility bills and pay taxes. Their online transactions are not limited to mundane tasks, as almost half of the respondents admitted they buy and download online games and eight out of ten engage in purchasing products and services online as well.
Australians usually interact with the internet on the go. So, it should come as no surprise that most of their financial transactions are done the same way. Over half of them are done on smartphones and almost a quarter are done on laptops. Although convenient, it introduces its own set of challenges and problems, since usually users automatically connect to cyberawareness australia
