Phishing emails can hit anyone, whether in the office or in your own four walls. The risk of phishing attempts increases with children - both in private and in professional life. This is shown by the current survey â € œCybersecurity in Numbersâ € by G DATA CyberDefense in cooperation with Statista and brand eins: More than 35 percent of those questioned with children in the household had already been the victim of a phishing email.
Phishing emails are still one of the biggest cyber threats. Countless such messages end up in private or business mailboxes every day. Families are exposed to a significantly higher risk of phishing. This is shown by the study â € žCyber security in numbersâ € œ from G DATA, Statista and brand eins. Every third family has already fallen for a phishing email. One possible reason: The starting age of children using digital devices has continued to decline in recent years. According to Statista, every third child between the ages of six and nine has a smartphone. The current corona pandemic and the associated homeschooling have accelerated the trend.
Phishing emails: in the private as well as in the professional environment
â € œMore people in the household also mean more phishing emails, so that's to be expected. Since many younger people have little experience in dealing with real threats, they are of course also an interesting target group for criminals. In doing so, they often take advantage of the fact that warning messages or other notices are skipped almost reflexively. In the process, important details that on closer inspection would indicate an attempted fraud simply fall through the grid, "says Tim Berghoff, Security Evangelist at G DATA CyberDefense. â € œChildren and young people are often much less critical of their data than would actually be necessary. This is also known to criminals who take advantage of this fact. Here the parents are asked to sit down with the children and talk about the topic. It can help to approach the topic in a playful way and not with a raised index finger. "
21 percent had already been phished in the office
Parents also have an increased risk of phishing in their professional environment. More than 21 percent of those questioned had already been the victim of a phishing email in the office. The problem: Phishing emails are becoming more and more sophisticated. Mass e-mails still end up in countless e-mail inboxes, but the risk of targeted attacks has increased. To do this, the attackers track their victims on social media or on the company's website. Or they read out existing e-mail histories with malware and use this to create a tailor-made phishing e-mail. In this you then refer to an event that an employee has attended. Such so-called spear phishing emails can hardly be distinguished from real emails.
More than 5.000 respondents in Germany
"Cybersecurity in numbers" is characterized by a high information density and particular methodological depth: More than 5.000 employees in Germany were questioned in a representative online study on cybersecurity in the professional and private context. The experts from Statista carried out the survey and, thanks to a sample size that is well above the industry standard, can present reliable and valid market research results in the “Cybersecurity in Numbers” booklet.
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About G Data With comprehensive cyber defense services, the inventor of the anti-virus enables companies to defend themselves against cybercrime. Over 500 employees ensure the digital security of companies and users. Made in Germany: With over 30 years of expertise in malware analysis, G DATA conducts research and software development exclusively in Germany. The highest standards of data protection are paramount. In 2011, G DATA issued a “no backdoor” guarantee with the “IT Security Made in Germany” seal of trust from TeleTrust eV. G DATA offers a portfolio from anti-virus and endpoint protection to penetration tests and incident response to forensic analyzes, security status checks and cyber awareness training to defend companies effectively. New technologies such as DeepRay use artificial intelligence to protect against malware. Service and support are part of the G DATA campus in Bochum. G DATA solutions are available in 90 countries and have received numerous awards.