US and global consumers still concerned over cybercrime

According to a research commissioned by Norton by Symantec, 47% reported they have been affected by cybercrime. 7 in 10 US consumers believe using public Wi-Fi is riskier than using a public restroom. Just over half of consumers think that storing their credit card and banking information in the cloud is riskier than not wearing a seatbelt.

Across the 17 countries surveyed, consumers lost an average of 21 hours over 2015 dealing with the fallout of online crime and nearly USD 358 per person – totaling roughly USD 150 billion.

Also, in the US, 9 in 10 respondents said they would feel devastated if their personal financial information was compromised. 7 in 10 consumers would rather cancel dinner plans with a best friend than have to cancel their debit or credit card due to cybercrime. 63% would rather go on a bad date than have to deal with customer service after a security breach.

Despite concerns over cybercrime, consumers are overconfident in their online security behaviors. When asked to grade their security practices, they consistently award themselves a solid “A.” But in reality, most are not passing the basic requirement of password use. In the US, of those using passwords, less than half always use a secure password – a combination of at least eight letters, numbers and symbols. People are sharing passwords to online sensitive accounts with friends and family. Of those sharing passwords, more than one in three share the password to their banking account, and on average they are sharing passwords for two accounts, with the most common passwords shared being e-mail (50%), TV/media (45%) and social media (40%).