Cybercrime Targeting Millennials

As you may already know, this month is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM). So we thought it would be important to focus on who these criminals are targeting and how large their impact can be. By 2021, the Official Cybercrime Report estimates that cybercrime will cost over $6 trillion dollars annually. The potential impact of Cybercrime is extreme, and we all need to do our part to help fight this growing area of criminal activity. 

One of the most targeted groups for cybercrimes are Millennials due to their comfortability with the internet. Just last year, 44% of Millennials were victims of a cybercrime. Several Americans last year also fell victim to ransomware demands with the average payment or demand from the criminal was $1,077. These types of crimes are what is playing a part in the almost $6 trillion dollars that cybercrime has cost people around the world. It is one of the largest criminal markets in the world and is on the rise. 

A good starting point in preventing these types of attacks on your personal accounts is to create new and unique passwords for all your accounts and change them as frequently as possible. When you develop new passwords and change existing ones regularly this will reduce the chances of your accounts being hacked or taken over. Also, sharing your passwords with anyone can be detrimental and increase your personal risk of cyberattacks. On average, 31% of Millennials share their passwords with other people, the most of any age group. 

Another area that Millennials and all Americans can increase their cybersecurity is through education and starting conversations with their kids at a young age. According to the Department of Homeland Security, 83% of Millennials agree that Cybersecurity Awareness Programs are important and should be implemented within schools and organizations. This could potentially be the most impactful solution to cybercrime and reducing these explosive numbers of criminal activity, and we couldn’t agree more! 

Education and awareness are going to be vital in keeping your information secure and could eliminate a lot of the avenues used by criminals to access personal information. We look forward to providing some of that education and awareness throughout the month of October that you can share with you family, friends and organization.  

Sources: 
1. https://www.dhs.gov/national-cyber-security-awareness-month

2. https://dataconnectors.com/technews/21-terrifying-cyber-crime-statistics/