The face of cybercrime is changing as criminals target social networking sites and mobile devices, and a new report says New Zealanders are vulnerable.
Two-thirds of online adults have fallen victim to cybercrime, a number that will increase unless people become more aware of their vulnerabilities, internet security experts say.
Norton's Asia-Pacific and Japan vice-president, David Freer, said people knew about the dangers embedded in emails, such as the infamous Nigerian scams, but those hazards were now five years old.
"But the problem is all the threats have moved on from that," Mr Freer said. "Many of the threats are in the social networks, which are the new email ... and social networks have the advantage of working in a trusted environment so people believe links their friends send them."
Sixteen percent of social network users in New Zealand have been victims of social cybercrime and 13% reported someone had hacked into their profile and pretended to be them.
The two main forms of online scams are either for monetary gain or to collect personal details to "create mischief".
Norton's annual cybercrime report estimated more than 900,000 New Zealanders fell victim to online criminal activity in the past 12 months, totalling more than $462 million in direct financial losses.
The worldwide survey interviewed a representational group of 500 New Zealanders about their cybercrime experiences and multiplied it to match the population.
Year on year, they had seen a doubling in the number of threats.
Mr Freer said people needed to be aware cybercrime had moved to social networks and mobile devices.
New Zealanders also needed to be more vigilant with changing passwords and choosing secure combinations. In the past year, 34% had been notified to change their password because it or their privacy had been breached.
NetSafe's chief executive Martin Cocker said the most secure passwords included a combination of letters, numbers and symbols.
