How big was cybercrime in Canada last year?

With the rise ubiquitous technology, cybercrime is soaring across the globe. The 2016 Norton Cybersecurity Insights Report demonstrates the rise in online fraud and explains its impact on consumers.Consumers worldwide felt the danger of cyber crime last year, with over 594 Million consumers affected globally. In Norton’s report, 62% of consumers surveyed believe that their credit card data will eventually be stolen online while the other 38% believe that their credit card information will be stolen in person from their wallet. In addition, 47% of these respondents reported that they have fallen victim to cybercrime.

While that is a relatively high stat, 40% of these respondents say they “feel personally responsible after they have been a victim”.

Clearly consumers are concerned about their security online, however both Canadian consumers and US consumers would not want to give up their credit card. Norton states that “70% of Canadian consumers would rather cancel dinner plans with a best friend than have to cancel their debit/credit card.” The state the same state for the US as well.Additionally the report suggests that consumers aren’t particularly careful when it comes to protecting themselves.

‍So how bad was cybercrime in Canada last year?‍

About 7 Million Canadians were hit by cybercrime last year, which in terms of percent of the entire population is about 19% of Canadians.

Of these 7 Million, about 2 Billion dollars were lost to cybercrime in Canada. Compared to the global report, focusing on 17 countries, Canada is a very small percentage with the global loss in cybercrime at $150 Billion and a near 600 Million consumers hit.

Fran Rosch executive vice president of Norton by Symantec said “Consumer confidence was rocked in 2014 by an unprecedented number of mega breaches that exposed the identities of millions of people who were simply making routine purchases from well-known retailers.” Their findings demonstrate that the headlines of major breaches from last year hurt consumer confidence in mobile and online activity. Unfortunately, the damage hasn’t motivated people to adopt simple protection measures to protect consumer data online and on mobile devices.

Despite these findings, ecommerce accounted for 6% of total retail spending and the numbers keep rising. Canadian consumers will continue shopping online. So how badly does this really affect consumer trust in online and mobile security? Not badly at all, so what should consumers do to protect themselves?

Consumers can protect themselves by using password best practices and keeping this information to themselves. From the Norton report, 64% of consumers don’t “always” use a secure password online.When choosing a password, use a strong password that is confidential to the password owner and when possible use two-factor authentication.

Two-factor authentication provides a second layer of security requiring extra information when logging in. This makes it extremely difficult for your information to get stolen and usually is something the individual knows (the individual’s password) and something they physically have, typically an app on a smartphone that can approve authentication requests.

Consumers can also protect themselves by educating themselves on cybersecurity. The more consumers are weary of what’s out there and knowledgeable, the less likely they will fall into a trap.

As cybercrime increases, it’s important that consumers take one step at a time to ensure their data is safe and sound.