Nearly half of employed people victim of cyberattack or scam

This story version has been formatted as an on-air script for broadcast outlets. See the original research story here.

A NEW GLOBAL SURVEY FOUND THAT NEARLY HALF OF RESPONDENTS HAVE FALLEN VICTIM TO A CYBERATTACK OR  SCAM.

IN A POLL OF 20,000 EMPLOYED ADULTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD, 45 PERCENT REPORTED THAT THEIR PERSONAL DATA, LIKE BANKING OR EMAIL ACCOUNT INFORMATION, HAS BEEN COMPROMISED BY A HACKING ATTEMPT OR SCAM.

AND ACCORDING TO THE SURVEY, PEOPLE BELIEVE ONLINE SCAMS AND PHISHING ATTEMPTS HAVE BECOME MORE SOPHISTICATED (72%) AND SUCCESSFUL (66%) DUE TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.

CONDUCTED BY TALKER RESEARCH ON BEHALF OF YUBICO FOR CYBERSECURITY AWARENESS MONTH IN OCTOBER, THE SURVEY REVEALED THAT 22 PERCENT SAY THEY LOST MONEY AS A RESULT AND 30 PERCENT HAVE DOUBTS THAT THEIR PERSONAL INFORMATION WILL EVER BE SAFE AGAIN. 

AND FOR THE 50 PERCENT WHOSE PERSONAL PASSWORDS HAVE BEEN EXPOSED BY A HACK OR DATA LEAK, THE MOST COMMON COMPROMISED PASSWORDS WERE FOR SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS (44%).

COMMON COMPROMISED PERSONAL PASSWORDS

• ​​Social media account password - 44%
• A payment app password - 24%
• Online retailer account password - 21%
• A messaging app password - 17%
• Banking app password - 13%
• Video streaming service password - 12%
• Insurance account password - 7%
• Medical patient portal password - 6%

Survey methodology:

Talker Research surveyed 2,000 employed adults from each of the following countries: United States, United Kingdom, Australia, India, Japan, Poland, Singapore, France, Germany and Sweden; the survey was commissioned by Yubico and administered and conducted online by Talker Research between July 22 and Aug 12, 2024.

We are sourcing from a non-probability frame and the two main sources we use are:

• Traditional online access panels — where respondents opt-in to take part in online market research for an incentive
• Programmatic — where respondents are online and are given the option to take part in a survey to receive a virtual incentive usually related to the online activity they are engaging in

Those who did not fit the specified sample were terminated from the survey. As the survey is fielded, dynamic online sampling is used, adjusting targeting to achieve the quotas specified as part of the sampling plan.

Regardless of which sources a respondent came from, they were directed to an Online Survey; a link to the questionnaire can be shared upon request. Respondents were awarded points for completing the survey. These points have a small cash-equivalent monetary value.

Cells are only reported on for analysis if they have a minimum of 80 respondents, and statistical significance is calculated at the 95% level. Data is not weighted, but quotas and other parameters are put in place to reach the desired sample.

Interviews are excluded from the final analysis if they failed quality-checking measures. This includes:

• Speeders: Respondents who complete the survey in a time that is quicker than one-third of the median length of interview are disqualified as speeders
• Open ends: All verbatim responses (full open-ended questions as well as other please specify options) are checked for inappropriate or irrelevant text
• Bots: Captcha is enabled on surveys, which allows the research team to identify and disqualify bots
• Duplicates: Survey software has “deduping” based on digital fingerprinting, which ensures nobody is allowed to take the survey more than once

It is worth noting that this survey was only available to individuals with internet access, and the results may not be generalizable to those without internet access.