A report out yesterday finds 83% of New Zealanders worry they will be a victim of online crime and 65% believe it is more likely their credit card information will be stolen online than from their wallets.
Nasdaq-listed Norton by Symantec released its findings from the Norton Cybersecurity Insights Report, which Pacific region director Mark Gorrie says sheds light on the truths of online crime and the impact it has on New Zealand consumers.
The findings revealed consumer reservations were grounded in reality.
In the past year, nearly $257 million was lost to cyber crime and about 850,000 New Zealanders were affected by online crime.
Consumer confidence was dented by the number of mega breaches exposing the identities of millions of people who were making routine purchases from well-known retailers, he said.
''Our findings demonstrate the headlines rattled people's trust in mobile and online activity but it hasn't led to widespread adoption of simple protection measures people should take to safeguard their devices and information online.''
Kiwis lost an average of 22 hours and $300 per person dealing with the impact of cyber crime, Mr Gorrie said.
Also, cyber crime took an emotional toll, with nearly nine out of 10 respondents saying they would be devastated if their financial information was compromised.
However, despite concern about and awareness of cyber crime, consumers were over-confident in their online security behaviours, he said.
When asked to grade their security practices, they consistently awarded themselves a solid ''A''.
But really, most were not meeting the most basic requirement of online security - password use.
In New Zealand, less than half always used a secure password such as a combination of at least eight letters, numbers and symbols.
People were sharing passwords to sensitive accounts with friends and family.
Of those sharing passwords, more than one in three shared their banking account password and, on average, they were sharing passwords for two accounts.
The most common passwords being shared were email (54%) and social media (46%).
Women were also more likely to share their passwords than men - 31% to 23%.
Additional key findings included:
• Less than half were confident they knew what to do if they were affected by online crime.
• More than one-third of millennials thought they were not interesting enough to be a target of online crime, despite 51% experiencing it.
• More than half of New Zealand consumers thought storing their credit/banking information in the cloud was riskier than not wearing a seatbelt.
Top tips
Choose a unique, smart security password for each account you have online.
Delete emails from senders you do not know and do not click on attachments or links on suspicious-looking email.
Always monitor financial accounts for unusual activity. If there is a charge you did not make, report it immediately.
Use secure backup to protect files and back up regularly so criminals cannot hold them for ransom.
