Brussels, 11/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - European internet users are very concerned about cybercrime, a new Eurobarometer survey published by the European Commission on Tuesday 10 February reveals.
According to this poll, 85% of internet users across the EU believe that the risk of becoming a victim of cybercrime is increasing. This is a 9% rise from a similar study conducted in 2013, the Commission notes. Concerns are felt about identity theft, hacking of email of social network accounts and bank card or online banking fraud.
“Cybercrime undermines consumer confidence in the use of the internet, hampering both our digital economy and our online lives. Our priority is to create a safer internet for all users by preventing and combating cybercrime in all its forms, to enable users to reap the full benefits of the digital internal market and to exercise their fundamental rights online”, said Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos. The issue is expected to be included in the internal security strategy scheduled, for the moment, for the month of May.
The survey also reveals that only 47% of European internet users felt they are well informed about the risks of cybercrime, though this is slightly up on the 44% recorded in 2013. Online personal information is not kept secure by websites in the view of 73% of internet users. Conversely, 74% of internet users surveyed believe they are able to protect themselves sufficiently against cybercrime.
The survey was conducted in October of last year on a sample of 27,868 people from the 28 member states. (Solenn Paulic)