Gallup Polls have shown that Americans are more afraid of being hacked then of being killed. This is a good thing.
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Start training. More people are being hacked online than ever before, and the list has included internet giants like LinkedIn, Yahoo and Tumblr. The hacks will continue to increase and fraud is possible when all of that personal data is in the wrong hands.
Who is being victim to identity theft online? How can you protect yourself from it? We did some research and here’s what we found.
Who is in Danger?
It turned out that people who identified themselves as tech-savvy were 18% more likely to become victims of online identity theft than those without. Respondents with Ph.D.’s were also more likely to be victims than high school graduates. This breach was 22 percent more common for Apple users than Windows users, despite persistent rumors that Macs are safer than Windows.
However, millennials are less likely to have their secure information stolen online than their older counterparts. This may be because they don’t have to worry about their personal information being compromised for as long as other age groups.
Are your Passwords Safe?
Did you know that experts consider unique passwords to be more important than strong ones.
Despite this fact, many people use the same password across multiple platforms. We found that tech-savvy people were just over 6 percentage more likely to have unique passwords than non-tech-savvy folks when we asked them about this.
Android users were almost 11% more likely to be hacked than iPhone users. Windows users were almost 12 percent more likely to be hacked than those who use a Mac. Women were slightly more likely to be hacked than men.
Strangely, millennials, the least likely generation to have had their identity stolen, were the least likely to use an individual password when we filter this information. This category was led by the baby boomers, who reported that 85 percent of respondents used a unique password to access their online accounts.
Make rash internet decisions
Nearly 66% of respondents said that having their personal data compromised was a “medium to large” risk. However, less than 4% followed all the basic security recommendations.
Which recommendations are people skipping? According to a survey, most people use public Wi Fi (which is a risky option, but there are safer ways to do it). Many people also fail to update their smartphone software or computer software on time. Over half of those who do not have access to their computer’s security settings keep their passwords somewhere.
Pro tip: If you have trouble remembering your passwords, you might consider using a password manager.
Find the motivation to protect yourself
When asked why they didn’t follow security recommendations, 40% of Americans replied that they were too lazy or found it too inconvenient. This is interesting after admitting that being hacked was a serious risk.
Who is too lazy to secure their data? Unfortunately, millennials are leading this charge with 57% admitting to being lazy, incontinence, or not concerned. Only 29 percent of Baby Boomers admitted to being lazy, indifferent, or inconvenienced by security requirements.
The most concerned about security were those with professional degrees. When we separated the data by industry, legal and religious professionals were the least likely.
The Most Private Information
Participants were most concerned about strangers accessing their personal information (90%) when we asked them.
