5 out of 10 Filipino Internet users affected by Cybersecurity incidents

MORE THAN half of the Internet users in the Philippines have been hacked or infected with malware during the last six months of 2016, according to the Kaspersky Cybersecurity Index. Almost the same number of Filipino respondents admitted their lack of concern towards online dangers.

The Kaspersky Cybersecurity Index is based on a twice-yearly online survey of thousands of Internet users around the world, conducted by Kaspersky Lab. The sample in each wave of research represents the adult online population according to age and gender in every country of the study.

During last year’s second half, the global cybersecurity company surveyed 17,337 Internet users from 28 countries around the world including 491 netizens from the Philippines.

The index includes three main indicators that provide a multi-dimensional picture of the level of danger users are currently exposed to online which include:

•Unconcerned — the proportion of people not believing that they could be a target for cybercrime. •Unprotected — the number of users who fail to

protect themselves from cyberthreats with the help of antivirus or Internet security software across all their desktops, laptops and mobile devices •Affected — the people who have experienced

different cybersecurity incidents during the survey’s duration The study’s results revealed 50% of Filipino netizens remained unconcerned about cyberattacks, which is 24% lower compared to the global average of 74%. This means more internet users in the Philippines already acknowledged their vulnerability online.

Filipinos also displayed better online protection habit as only 34% of the respondents are unprotected as opposed to the 39% global score.

On the other hand, 52% of the respondents from the Philippines confessed they were once affected by cybercrime incidents during the second half of 2016. This is alarmingly 23% higher than the recorded worldwide rate of only 29%.

“As compared to the global average, more Filipinos are aware of the dangers in the internet, and more internet users from the Philippines are also safeguarding their devices with security solutions. This behavior is definitely commendable, yet, is clearly not enough. The high percentage of users in the Philippines who were hacked or infected with malware last year showed cybersecurity is more than acknowledging the risks present online and installing security solutions to combat them. Filipinos’ defenses against cyberattacks should go beyond awareness and security software, it is high time for netizens to develop a better cyberself-defense instinct that automatically turns on when they go online,” said Sylvia Ng, general manager at Kaspersky Lab Southeast Asia.