The reason behind the lack of cybersecurity undertaken by millennials is because they think they are “too boring for cybercriminals”.
37 per cent do not expect to be victims of cyber crimes, a new study by Kaspersky, a global cybersecurity company shows, and thus do not take proactive action to protect themselves in the cyber domain.
In their global report, More Connected Than Ever Before: How We Build Our Digital Comfort Zones, a study on how people are changing their habits to create a “digital comfort zone” at home revealed that millennials (aged 25—34 in 2020) spend close to seven hours a daily online after lockdown was enacted.
This average is up from five hours pre-lockdown at the beginning of the year.
The results were compiled in May 2020 from a sample size of 10,081 respondents across many countries. They include Brazil, France, Italy, Singapore, the UK and the US.
The survey was also conducted across various age groups ranging from 18 – 44.
Millennials worry about digital security, but do not take enough precautions to enhance it
As work-from-home arrangements became the “new normal”, millennials are spending most of their time on social media.
This has led to almost half (49 per cent) saying this increased time online has made them more aware of their digital security.
36 per cent say that they should be doing more to strengthen their digital security considering their online consumption, but it has not been prioritised. 12 per cent of millennials even said they would not know if they were hacked.
Online dating enjoyed a huge boost since most had to stay indoors. However it is a double-edged sword as it has become a serious cause for concern amongst millennials too. 61 per cent say they are concerned about how the increase in their online dating activity will compromise their online security.
“It is not a surprise that millennials are placing more emphasis on digital security – particularly as the line between work and home becomes increasingly blurred”, Andrew Winton, Vice President of Marketing at Kaspersky said.
To tackle these issues, almost half (52 per cent) of millennials now say that they only run trustworthy apps on their devices from official stores such as Apple Store and Google Play.
49 per cent run regular anti-virus scans on each of their devices to protect themselves, while 13 per cent of millennials use their neighbors’ Wi-Fi instead.
As for measures that can be taken to bolster digital security and privacy, Kaspersky outlined:
- Pay attention to the website’s authenticity. Do not visit websites until you are sure that they are legitimate and start with ‘https’. Try looking for reviews of sites that seem suspicious to you
- Keep a list of your online accounts so you have a full understanding of which services and websites may be storing your personal information
- Block the installation of programs from unknown sources in your smartphone’s settings and only install apps from official app stores
- Start using “Privacy Checker” to help make your social media profiles more private. It will make it harder for third parties to find highly personal information”