From: Khaleej Times

Issac John

More than 1.5 million people fell victim to cybercrime in the UAE in the past 12 months, suffering Dh1.039 billion in direct financial losses, a new study revealed.

In the UAE, 46 per cent of the country’s social networking users have fallen victim to cybercrime on social networking platforms, the findings of the annual Norton Cybercrime Report, one of the world’s largest consumer cybercrime studies, show.

“Of the social networking users, 31 per cent adults have been a victim of social or mobile cybercrime in the past twelve months in the UAE compared to the 21 per cent globally,” it said.

With findings based on self-reported experiences of more than 13,000 adults across 24 countries, the 2012 edition of the report calculates the direct costs associated with global consumer cybercrime at $110 billion over the past 12 months.

“Every second, 18 adults become a victim of cybercrime , resulting in more than one-and-a-half million cybercrime victims each day on a global level. With losses totalling an average of $197 per victim across the world in direct financial costs, cybercrime costs consumers more than a week’s worth of nutritious food necessities for a family of four,” said the report.

In the past 12 months, an estimated 556 million adults across the world experienced cybercrime, more than the entire population of the European Union.

This figure represents 46 per cent of online adults who have been victims of cybercrime in the past twelve months, on par with the findings from 2011 (45 per cent).

This year’s survey shows an increase in “new” forms of cybercrime compared to last year, such as those found on social networks or mobile devices – a sign that cybercriminals are starting to focus their efforts on these increasingly popular platforms. One in five online adults (21 per cent) has been a victim of either social or mobile cybercrime, and 39 per cent of social network users have been victims of social cybercrime, specifically: “Cybercriminals are changing their tactics to target fast growing mobile platforms and social networks where consumers are less aware of security risks,” said Marian Merritt, Norton Internet Safety Advocate.

“This mirrors what we saw in this year’s Symantec Internet Security Threat Report which reported nearly twice the mobile vulnerabilities in 2011from the year before.”

The report also reveals that most Internet users take the basic steps to protect themselves and their personal information – such as deleting suspicious emails and being careful with their personal details online. However, other core precautions are being ignored: 40 per cent don’t use complex passwords or change their passwords frequently and more than a third do not check for the padlock symbol in the browser before entering sensitive personal information, such as banking details, online.