Recently experts from B2B International interviewed Internet users. The purpose of the questionnaire was to define the pecuniary value of personal data that users store on their laptops and computers and compare it to the value that cybercriminals give to it. The research was requested by Kaspersky Lab and conducted in August. Yet the results were not available until now.
The research showed that users’ pricetag on their personal data is £550 on average. Yet, cybercriminals that attack computers using ransomware usually demand approximately £250 on average. The way that ransomware works is that it encrypts users’ personal data and then demands a ransom for decrypting that data back. No wonder that 40% of users agree on cybercriminals’ terms and pay the ransom.
Despite the fact that users value their data highly, many of them neglect evet the most basic security measures. According to the data collected, only 6 respondents out of 10 installed an antivirus program on their Mac computers. Windows device users are less reckless and only 1 out of 10 neglect any protection. However, almost a quarter of users (23%) on both platforms that took part in this research do not backup their data, even that of critical importance. 9 out of 10 confirmed that they store some personal data (documents, photos, messages, etc.) on their devices. They admit that at least 15% of that data will be irreversibly lost in case of a cyber attack or a hardware failure.
What protection do you use against cybercriminals? Find out about the best options available at your local London Mac and PC repair service, Bits and PCs.
