Kaspersky Index reveals increase in technological expertise among people

Cyber security firm Kaspersky Lab's Cybersecurity Index revealed that in the second half of 2016, the number of people concerned about their security and ready to protect themselves against cyber threats is constantly growing.

The Index, based on an online survey of Internet users around the world, is conducted by Kaspersky Lab twice a year. In the second half of 2016, 17,377 respondents from 28 countries were surveyed.

This year, the main indicators of the index have been revised to more accurately reflect the digital life of users in different countries.

Currently, Kaspersky Cybersecurity Index includes three main indicators:

•Unconcerned - the share of users who do not believe they can become targets of cybercrime

•Unprotected - the number of users who have not installed a security solution on their computer, tablet and smartphone

•Affected - the percentage of users who have fallen victim to cybercrime.

Kaspersky Cybersecurity Index users can now view statistics on specific financial losses that have occurred as a result of cybercriminal activity, as well as compare the data for different groups of users.

The global Index for the second half of the year (Unconcerned-Unprotected-Affected) was 74-39-29, implying that 74 percent of the users did not believe that they could become cybercriminal targets, 39 percent did not use protection solutions on all their connected devices, and 29 percent of those surveyed have been affected by cyber threats in the last few months.

The previous Index accounted for 79-40-29, which means that six months ago more people preferred to remain unprotected.

"The Kaspersky Cybersecurity Index for the second half of 2016 shows positive dynamics which, we hope will continue. At Kaspersky Lab we are doing everything we can to tell as many people as possible about cyber threats and the ways to combat them. Our goal is to make the cyber world safe for everybody. The Kaspersky Cybersecurity Index is just one of our steps towards this goal", said Andrei Mochola, Head of Consumer Business at Kaspersky Lab.

The statistics on the site show that the number of Internet-connected devices in an average family has grown from 5.9 to 6.3 devices per family, in six months.

Owing to digitisation, between the first and second half of 2016, there has been an 11 percent increase in usage of digital payment systems and a 17 percent increase in the number of people using online banking facilities.