Their aim is to compromise as many victims as possible to maximise their profits

“All over the world cyber criminals develop their tactics and tailor fast. We can see similarities among the attacks everywhere…”

He said there were multiple methods used in cyber attacks, some focused on ordinary internet users and others on organisations.

Novikov said cybercrime attackers did not care who they victimised.“Their aim is to compromise as many victims as possible to maximise their profits. Targeted attackers are more selective. Typically, they know their victims, or at least choose them for very specific reasons – typically to steal sensitive business information relating to the victim or the industry in which they operate.

“Attacks often start by tricking victims into doing something that jeopardises security – their own or their employer’s. This could be clicking on an attachment, clicking on a link or disclosing sensitive data that provides attackers with access to systems.

“The dramatic growth in the number of attacks and the increasing professionalism and focus of attackers means that there is no such thing as easy protection. Thus, we now live in a world where the question isn’t whether you will be attacked, but when, and how quickly and completely you can recover,” he said.

According to Novikov almost 40% of South Africans store passwords insecurely, with 17% writing them in a notepad so that they don’t have to remember them, which also puts their security at risk.

About 15% of users use just one password for all accounts – allowing them to live their online lives seamlessly.