Vast majority of Dutch unconcerned about cybersecurity at work
A massive 75 percent of Dutch people have little to no worries about cyber security at their work place, though many do take measures for digital protection at home, according to a National Cybersecurity Awareness Study that Alert Online published on Monday. The study's release coincides with the launch of Alert Online's annual cybersecurity campaign, NU.nl reports.
Half of workers indicated that their employer gave them no information about working safely online. Many employees don't know what the security procedures in their company are and it is often unclear whether a company's servers are secure. Almost half of Dutch are concerned about digital security at home, compared to 29 percent last year. Almost three quarters of respondents indicated that they've heard, seen or read something about cyber attacks.
On the other hand, Dutch greatly underestimate the impact of various form of cybercrime. Respondents estimated the risk of computer damage in all forms of cybercrime at less than 15 percent. However, per incident 10 to 55 percent sustained damage. About half said they became more cautious after falling victim to a cyber attack, and about 20 percent took measures against an attack.
While most Dutch say they deal very well or excellently with potentially dangerous cyber situations, they are unaware of everywhere potential risks may come from. According to the Dutch, the most risks come from emails with hyperlinks or infected attachments. About 55 percent of Dutch received phishing attempts at a private email address, and 39 percent at work. "Much less well known is that such links are also distributed through social media and messaging services such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Telegram", Erik Jan Koedijk, chairman of Alert Online's advisory board, said according to the newspaper.
This year Alert Online is focusing particularly on children aged 11 or 12. For the study, they questioned 108 kids in this age group. Nine out of 10 said they have a smartphone, and 70 percent have a profile on Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat.
While 81 percent said that their parents know what they do online and on social media, the researchers found that there is not always direct supervision on these activities. For example, kids are often online without an adult watching what they are doing. Children also often use public WiFi networks, but most don't know how to check if a network is safe. A quarter of the questioned children use the same password for all websites.
