According to Russians, what should be protected in the cyberspace is banking details and passport data, but not any other personal information.
MOSCOW, August 27, 2015. Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM) presents the data conserving the following questions: how many Russian Internet users have become victims of the Internet swindlers; what kind of data is the most vulnerable; what Russians do to protect themselves against cyber attacks.
Every third Internet user has become victim of the Internet swindlers (32%); 13% - multiple times. Twice as many respondents ran into malicious programs (60%).
Every second (50%) is not afraid of cyber attacks. Less than half of Russians feel vulnerable to the Internet swindlers (45%). Fifty-five percent of Russians are afraid of malicious software; 40% do not care about that.
Swindlers are interested in bank account details, passwords and PIN codes according to respondents (88%). About two-thirds of Russians (62%) think that the passport data is most vulnerable. Other personal information poses no interest to swindlers. Least important things are social media passwords (15%), personal photos, video and audio files (12%), passwords to access computers, smartphones and tablets (10%).
Russian views concerning the Internet safety are proven-in-practice: 78% never kept or would not keep any bank de ails, including passwords or PIN codes, on their computers. A further 12% do it sometimes. Most of Russians never send passwords via e-mail or social media (73%); they do not use simple passwords such as 12345 (70%); they install and update anti-virus software (69%). However, many Russians are unfamiliar with common safety rules. Most of them find it hard to assess the risks using the public Wi-Fi (30%) and to make themselves change e-mail and social media passwords regularly (27%).
The VCIOM opinion poll was conducted August 22-23, 2015; 1600 respondents were interviewed in 130 settlements in 46 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.5%.
Have you/ your relatives become victims of Internet swindlers or malicious programs?? (closed-ended question, one answer per each line, % of Internet users) | ||||
| Yes, multiple times | Yes, once | No, never | Don`t know |
Internet swindlers | 13 | 19 | 62 | 6 |
Malware software | 37 | 23 | 36 | 5 |
Do you feel vulnerable to Internet swindlers and/or malicious software when using the Internet? (closed-ended question, one answer per each line, % of internet users) | |||||
| Definitely, ye s | Rather yes | Rather no | Definitely, no | Don`t know |
Internet swindlers | 17 | 28 | 28 | 22 | 5 |
Malware software | 21 | 34 | 22 | 18 | 4 |
In your opinion, what kind of information is of interest for Internet swindlers? | |
| Total respondents |
Banking details - personal banking account password, PIN code, card number | 88 |
Passport data | 62 |
e-mail password | 32 |
Location, address | 27 |
Social media password | 15 |
Personal documents (photo, video, audio) | 12 |
Password to access computer, Smartphone, tablet | 10 |
Other (what exactly) | 1 |
Don`t know | 2 |
What preventive measures do you take when surfing the Internet, and how often? (closed-ended question, one answer per each line, % of internet users) | ||||
| Always | Sometimes | Never | I know nothing about it/I do not know |
I do not keep my bank card information (CVS, PIN codes) on my computer | 78 | 12 | 7 | 4 |
I do not send passwords via e-mail or through social media | 73 | 15 | 7 | 5 |
I do not use simple passwords (such as 12345 or ABCDE) | 70 | 17 | 9 | 5 |
I install and update anti-virus software | 69 | 19 | 8 | 4 |
I never show my location or address | 68 | 19 | 9 | 4 |
I use additional browser settings to restrict automatic password saving or to protect myself against dangerous websites | 54 | 20 | 16 | 9 |
I do not use public Wi-Fi at cafés, at stations, etc. | 44 | 21 | 27 | 7 |
I change my e-mail and social media passwords regularly | 33 | 30 | 30 | 7 |
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!