ObserveCiber has recently presented its ‘Study on perception and level of trust in Spain. How citizens are protected against cyber risks‘ in which the incidents related to cybercrime in recent times in Spain are examined.
This document, which also has a version with information segmented by gender, aims to analyze cybersecurity habits, incidents and perception, as well as the degree of digital trust of technology and internet users in Spain. Between January and June 2021, according to data collected from surveys of the Internet population, there was an increase in the use of payments through the internet (61%), access to paid or subscription digital content (45%) and also from online courses and training (26%).
security incidents
According to the ObservaCiber study, the percentage of users who claim to have suffered a serious cybersecurity incident has fallen almost two percentage points to 28%. Even so, more than half of the Internet user population, 55.3% have experienced an incident of cybersecurity during the first six months of 2021, a figure slightly lower than the 55.8% registered during the previous semester. The receipt of unwanted spam emails is the most reported incidence (85%), followed by computer viruses or other malicious code (14%).
In addition, the number of people who have made some change in their online browsing habits after experiencing a security problem has grown to 61%. These actions are mainly focused on changing the password, using a password manager or updating the privacy tools.
On the other hand, six out of ten users have suffered some fraud situation during the first half of this year, a slightly lower figure compared to the previous period. Men continue to experience fraud more frequently than women.
A positive fact is that Internet users who have changed their purchasing habits after suffering a fraud situation have increased to nearly 30%. They now perform basic checks as per the given recommendations.
Internet security measures and habits
The use of automatable security measures on the computer of the home has decreased again in the first half of 2021 in a generalized way, with the exception of the firewall o firewalls (32%) and programs anti-spam (24%).
This type of measurement is used more by men than by women. In the case of active security measures, the increase in the use of passwords stands out (60%), especially by the male population.
As for mobile devices, the use of the different security options available continues to increase, such as the unlock pin or pattern (87%), automatic blocking (68%), data encryption (19%) and managers of passwords (43%). However, there is a decrease in the use of backup copies and antivirus, especially among the male gender. On the other hand, the percentage of women who update the operating system and applications is growing.
behavioral habits
In the first half of 2021, an improvement in the behavior of the user population of online banking and electronic commerce is perceived. Both men and women regularly monitor the movements of their bank accounts and carry out checks to ensure that the website is trustworthy.
Regarding the use of social networks, women continue to be more cautious when publishing their own information. 44% have their profile configured so that it can only be seen by their friends or contacts, while in men this percentage stands at 38%. The same happens when downloading applications on devices. They are more likely to download apps official platforms and only 7% do so from unofficial sites, compared to almost 15% of men.
This ObservaCiber study also indicates a decrease in the number of users who scan downloaded files with an antivirus before opening them (63%).
