Nearly half of all people in the United States have been affected by cybercriminal activities so far.
A new report based on a survey by ValuePenguin revealed that almost half – 43 percent – of Americans have been a victim of some kind of digital invasion, as cyber crime rates skyrocket.
Though financial loss is a risk, consumers are also afraid of the misuse of their personal information.
Almost half of all victims of cyber crimes are impacted by financial losses in some way. That said, the cyber crime rates are climbing for additional types of breach as well, which include the sale or misuse of the personal information accessed by the criminals.
Every year, these figures climb much higher. The Internet Crime Complaint Center at the F.B.I. received nearly 350,000 individual complaints of crimes of this nature last year. This was substantially higher than it had been the year before, when that center received about 270,000 individual complaints.
The cyber crime rates are climbing fast enough that it will soon be most Americans affected by hacks.
Among the victims of hacking, digital fraud or extortion who experienced financial loss, about 64 percent lost a minimum of $1,000. Still, despite that high financial cost, Americans are more concerned about the sale or misuse of private personal data that they did not voluntarily share. Concern is higher about the chance that companies will sell or use personal information against them if they are targeted by cyber criminals, said the ValuePenguin survey.
Among the top findings of this survey were the following:
• 43 percent of people in the U.S. have been a victim of cyber crime. For the purpose of this survey, this was defined as hacking, extortion/blackmail, fraud, or cyberbullying.
• 64 percent of those who suffered financial harm lost at least $1,000.
• 37 percent of those who suffered financial harm lost between $1,000 and $5,000.
• 51 percent of Americans were most concerned about companies selling their personal data or using it against them.
• 25 percent of Americans were most concerned with being victim of a cyber crime.
• About 33 percent of U.S. consumers will share their health and driving data with their insurance companies in order to receive a premiums reduction.
• Despite the sharp rise in cyber crime rates, 35 percent of Americans would not be willing to pay any price for a personal cyber insurance policy. Another 25 percent would pay, but only $25 or less per year.
• Consumers’ relative calm about cyber crimes is reflected in the modest sums they are willing to pay for protection. Thirty-five percent of Americans wouldn’t be willing to pay anything for a personal cyber insurance policy, and another 25% would only pay $25 per year or less.
