According to a report by internet security company Norton, one-quarter of Canadians with online passwords have shared their codes, even though they are usually more paranoid than their global peers about cybercrime.
86% of Canadian respondents also claim they are worried they will be the victim of an online crime, compared to an average of 80% among the 17 countries studied. More than seven million Canadians lost a total USD 2 billion and nearly half a day’s worth of time dealing with the fallout from cybercrime. Credit card fraud was the most commonly cited type of online crime, followed by unauthorized access to e-mails.
About 74% of Canadian respondents believe they are more likely to have their credit card details stolen while shopping online than from their wallets. That was higher than the global average of 62%.
Despite the recent spotlight on hacking, many survey respondents admitted their security features are not airtight. One in four said they do not have a password on any device. And just 38% of respondents, both in Canada and globally, said they always use a password. Many Canadians are sharing their passwords — even to their bank accounts, the report found. More than half said they have shared their email passwords and 43% said they have given out access to their social media accounts. A smaller proportion, but still more than 25%, admitted to sharing their banking passwords.
Just 11% of Canadians said they felt completely in control of their online security, compared to an average 15% among all countries studied. About 70% said they’d rather cancel dinner with their best friend than cancel their debit or credit card. Four in 10 Canadians said they did not change their account password after a security compromise. And 14% of Canadians who received notification of a security breach took no action.
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