New Study Reveals Americans Fear Identity Theft and People Expect Service Providers to Manage Their Cybersecurity

According to a recent user behavior study conducted in the United States by Bitdefender and Ipsos, cyberthreats remain a hot topic on every digital user's mind, with 79% of those polled expressing fear of cyberattacks. The greatest concern appears to be identity theft, with 53% of participants concerned about their digital identity and 49% concerned about losing personal information due to data breaches.

With $8.8 billion lost to cyber fraud in 2022 alone, and over 2.4 million fraud reports submitted to the FTC, this should come as no surprise..

As the number of smart devices per household increases and our lives become more online, so do people's digital personas, and the attack surface expands, opening up new opportunities for hackers and scammers. When we consider that cybercriminals have managed to automate some of their actions and have begun to rely more and more on AI to assist them, the future appears bleak.

Aside from identity theft and having their personal data stolen, Americans are concerned about losing money to online scammers, malware, and ransomware, with more than half fearing financial fraud, 49% fearing malware, and 46% fearing a ransomware attack.

Surprisingly, despite the fact that they say cybersecurity is on their mind and that they are willing to pay an extra 6-10$ for better protection, 39% users do not have an antivirus installed on their mobile phone and 23% do not use an anti-virus at all.

Furthermore, 45% believe that cybersecurity should be the responsibility of their service provider, with 74% stating that having an online security solution offered by their provider is very important and 26% stating that they would even consider switching service providers for a better cybersecurity offer.