Nearly all consumers are feeling like the number of cyberattacks that happen isn’t going down in the next year. Ninety-seven percent of respondents to a survey conducted by ThreatX said cyberattacks will either increase or remain the same in 2024, and 94% say that cyberattacks will be more difficult to defend against.
In addition, 69% predict that attacks will become more sophisticated and that they will outpace the current defenses we have against them.
“What we’ve found is that consumers are keeping a pulse on cybersecurity trends and have serious concerns around how their sensitive information is protected,” said Gene Fay, CEO of ThreatX. “As they look at the companies that they do business with, it’s clear they’ll be expecting more robust cybersecurity measures be put in place to meet the evolving threats of tomorrow.”
Consumers are still taking steps to reduce their own individual risk, however. Fifty-six percent of respondents plan to utilize different passwords for all of their accounts, 55% will use two-factor authentication, and 53% will avoid connecting to public Wi-Fi networks.
The report found that there was a significant difference in perceived security risk across different generations. One in four Baby Boomers believe attacks will get more difficult to defend against, compared to just 5% of Gen Z consumers. In addition, 97% of Gen Z respondents don’t plan on taking action to reduce their risk.
Ransomware was the type of cyberattack that consumers fear increasing most, with 64% of respondents worrying about them. Fifty-one percent worry about nation state attacks increasing and 46% worry about an increase in identity theft.
Half of the respondents perceived financial institutions to be the most targeted industry for cyberattacks. This was followed in popularity by tech at 45% of respondents and government at 22%.
ThreatX, in partnership with Dynata, surveyed 2,000 consumers in the US and UK for their report, between September 28 and October 4, 2023.
