nortonIn today’s connected world, businesses are prime targets for cyberattacks, and unintentional missteps can result in critical exposure of consumers’ sensitive personal information.

According to the 2018 Norton LifeLock Cyber Safety Insights Report, that has been just released by Norton LifeLock, a Symantec company, 90% of Hong Kong consumers say they are more alarmed than ever about their privacy. However, the majority accept certain risks to their online privacy in exchange for convenience (51%) and are willing to sell or give away certain personal information such as their location (48%) and internet search history (52%), to companies.

In the age of information sharing, control is now at the heart of society’s privacy paradox – from who should have it to what the consequences should be when it is mishandled. In fact, 96% of Hong Kong consumers believe it is important to require that companies give customers control of how their personal data is used. Adequate recourse is also expected when personal information is not protected, with 96% of consumers believing it is important that companies be required to provide a way for consumers to report misuse of their personal data, or consequently be fined. While 91% of Hong Kongers indicated they want to do more to protect their privacy, the majority (61%) said they don’t know how.

“Our cyber safety is inherently tied to trust,” said Kurt Wang, Chief Sales Engineer, Consumer of Symantec, Greater China Region, Symantec. “Most consumers are aware their data is being captured from the websites they visit, the social media they share and the apps they use, and trust their information is being properly secured. However, these same consumers are often unaware of how to protect their data and why protecting it is essential in order to stifle the efforts of cybercriminals. The sheer amount of personal information being collected about us shows no signs of slowing and there is greater value placed on it than ever before.”

In the past year alone, 39% of Hong Kong consumers experienced cybercrime, and 77% believe it’s likely they will experience cybercrime in the next year. Further, only 38% of parents of minors know that children under 18 are at risk from identity theft, and 27% say they have not taken any steps to protect their child from identity theft.

Additional Hong Kong findings include:

  • Consumers in Hong Kong have little to no trust in social media providers: 96% of Hong Kong consumers express little (62%) or no (34%) trust in social media providers when it comes to managing and protecting their personal information. In fact, over one in 10 (11%) have deleted a social media account in the past 12 months due to privacy concerns.
  • The top three cybercrimes Hong Kong consumers have experienced: Detecting malicious software on a computer, Wi-fi network, smartphone, tablet, smart home, or other connected devices (28%); detected unauthorized access on an email account (19%); while 18% detected unauthorized access on a social media account.
  • The past years impact of cybercrime: More than 4 million Hong Kong consumers have experienced a cybercrime (62%) at some point in their life. In the past year alone, 39% of Hong Kongers experienced cybercrime, and 77% believe it’s likely they will experience cybercrime in the next year. As a result of cybercrime in the past year, losses totaled an estimated 1.7 billion HKD and 10.8 million hours lost dealing with the aftermath, with one in three (33%) spending a week or longer dealing with the problem.


By MediaBUZZ