The European Commission recently released a special Eurobarometer report on Cyber Security. 26,700 people across all EU member states have reported their internet use, concerns and measures against cybercrime, including for online banking and buying goods and services online.
Around half of the internet users in the EU say they buy goods or services online (53%), use social networking sites (52%), or do online banking (48%). There is considerable variation in the online activities that respondents undertake in different countries.When using the internet for online banking or shopping, the two most common concerns are about someone taking or misusing personal data and security of online payments.
12% of internet users across the EU have experienced online fraud, and 8% have experienced identity theft. The majority of internet users in the EU (61%) are concerned about experiencing identity theft.
Internet users have changed their behavior in a number of ways because of security concerns. 37% say that they are less likely to give personal information on websites, while 43% do not open emails from people they don’t know. 51% have installed anti-virus software. However, more than half (53%) of internet users in the EU have not changed any of their online passwords during the past year.
24% of internet users access the internet through a smartphone, but most use a desktop computer (63%) or a laptop computer or netbook (61%), and 6% use a tablet computer or touchscreen.
Respondents in Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands are more likely to be frequent internet users (83% accessing the internet at least once a day), to use the internet for buying things (80%, 78% and 76% respectively) or for online banking (87%, 87% and 84%). In these countries, respondents are also less likely to be concerned about being the victim of cybercrime.
Food for thought.
