Net crime soaring in SA
16 Sep 2011
Only 69 percent of online adults globally reported experiencing cyber crime in their lifetime and only 65 percent of those in the past year.
Advances in cellphone technology and the abundance of cellphones in South Africa means people are being targeted via their handsets. Sixteen percent of adult online South Africans reported experiencing cyber crime via their phones in comparison with only 10 percent globally.
Computer viruses/malware make up the biggest portion of cyber crime in South Africa and the rest stems from online scams and phishing.
Phishing e-mails usually appear to come from a well-known organisation and ask for personal information, such as credit card numbers, account numbers or passwords. Phishing attempts often purport to come from sites, services and companies with which the potential victim does have an account.
On average, South Africans spend 23 hours per week online.
Those who have access to the internet via their cellphones are connected to the internet 70 percent of the time. And just over a quarter of us say we could not live without the internet.
But 24 percent of us do not have up-to-date online security systems.
