New research has revealed that older and younger generations of New Zealanders are being targeted by different online threats based on the primary device that they use to go online.
The research, conducted by Avast, a global leader in digital security, and which forms part of a comprehensive global study with YouGov into digital citizenship trends, found that a majority of New Zealanders aged 55-64 (61%) and over 65 (73%) primarily use their desktop computer or laptop to go online. As important internet activities of this group of users are banking/finance and staying in contact through emails, this makes them more susceptible to ransomware, tech support scams, spyware/Trojans, and Botnets, which can be accidentally or unknowingly downloaded or accessed via links in emails or through malicious websites.
In contrast, younger Kiwis mainly use their smartphone to go online (18-24 – 67%; 25-34 – 80%; 35-44 – 65%) making them targets for Adware, mobile banking Trojans, downloader and FluBot SMS scams spreading malware, and Instagram and TikTok scams promoting adware apps or Fleeceware.
Across all devices, younger and older generations are also targets for phishing attacks and romance scams.
According to Avast Threat Labs data, on desktops Avast blocked on average over 1.46 million ransomware attacks each month in 2021, and between January and April this year, there were 5.9 million tech support scam attack attempts worldwide each month.
On mobile devices, the top threats last quarter were: adware (59%), mobile banking Trojans (9.7%), and downloaders (7.9%), which are harmful apps that use social engineering tactics to trick victims into installing more malicious or otherwise unwanted apps.
As different age groups also use alternate devices to go online, it is important to stay alert and have a strong digital protection for all devices.
“It’s important that New Zealanders understand the different types of online threats that are targeted at different devices and that you discuss all of these threats as a family so each person is up to date and aware of how to stay safe whatever device they happen to be using,” says Jaya Baloo, Chief Information and Security Officer at Avast.
“As a rule of thumb, when going online, whether it’s on your computer, laptop or smartphone, if something doesn’t feel right, don’t continue. Don’t click on a link in an email, SMS, social ad or website, don’t input your personal or payment details, and don’t download. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”
Avast ran and commissioned this survey among 16,147 online users in 17 countries around the world, namely Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Czech Republic, France, India, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, United Kingdom, United States, Austria, Germany and Switzerland.
Related stories: www.newsviews.co.nz/anz-clients-face-disruption-of-online-banking-services-again/ https://www.newsviews.co.nz/malicious-computer-virus-targeting-new-zealanders/ https://www.newsviews.co.nz/major-cyber-incident-shuts-waikato-dist-health-board-clinical-services/
– from NewsViews
