Make no mistake, Cybercrime is real and its impact is huge. Indeed, a recent Norton Cybercrime report by Symantec provides some fairly startling statistics.
For example, there are 1.5 million Cybercrime victims on a daily basis – that is 18 victims per second. There are 556 million such victims per year – in excess of the European Union total population.
Two-thirds of online adults already have been Cybercrime victims at some point in their lives, and 46% of online adults have been victims within the past year.
The annual cost of Cybercrime is a whopping $110 billion.
The average cost per victim is $197. Of the surveyed countries, the cost of Cybercrime is the highest in China at $46 billion, with the United States coming in second at $21 billion, and with Europe third at $16 billion.
The highest number of Cybercrime victims are found in Russia at 92%, then China at 84%, and then South Africa at 80%.
One of the greatest Cybercrime risks, according to the report, is the fact that 44% of adults access personal emails through free or unsecured Wi-Fi connections. Social networks also can present Cybercrime risks. One danger there is accepting friend requests from unknown people – as you are only as secure as your circle of network friends.
To be safe, people should change their passwords frequently, use complex passwords, delete emails from people they do not know, employ a basic antivirus solution, and they should not open attachments or links from unsolicited emails or texts.
Don’t think you are immune from Cybercrime. Be smart and careful out there.
Eric Sinrod is a partner in the San Francisco office of Duane Morris LLP (http://www.duanemorris.com) where he focuses on litigation matters of various types, including information technology and intellectual property disputes. His Web site is http://www.sinrodlaw.com and he can be reached at ejsinrod@duanemorris.com. To receive a weekly email link to Mr. Sinrod’s columns, please send an email to him with Subscribe in the Subject line. This column is prepared and published for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the author’s law firm or its individual partners.