Cybersecurity: Rising Consumer Carelessness

Survey of the BSI

Alarming: Consumers protect themselves less than internet fraud

An overly cheap product in online trading that never arrives or a suspicious email. Cybercrime has many facets. How do citizens protect themselves?

Germany’s consumers become more careful about cyber security despite the high dangers. This shows a new survey. As announced by the Federal Office for Information Technology (BSI) in Bonn, only 44 percent of a good 3,000 respondents stated that they used secure passwords. That is three percentage points less than in a survey a year ago and 13 percentage points less than in 2023.

Fewer and fewer people also use two-factor authentication-recently it was only 34 percent and therefore eight percentage points less than 2023. Current antivirus programs and the automatic installation of available updates as well as the regular collection of backup copies are also falling back.

When asked about the reason for the waiver, almost a third stated that he felt safe. About a quarter think the protective measures are too complicated and a fifth feels overwhelmed.

BSI President Claudia Plattner was alerted by the growing negligence. “Especially in the current geopolitical situation, we have to take cyber security much more seriously: this applies to the state, the manufacturers of IT products and for each and every one of us,” said the head of the authorities and referred to the dangers on the net. In “Checklists for an emergency”, the BSI provides concrete tips on what to do if you have gone the criminals into the mesh.

Seven percent of those surveyed stated that they were affected by cybercrime and therefore less than before (in 2024 it was 10 percent; 2023 still 12 percent). However, two percent of those surveyed said that they had suffered financial damage from cybercrime in the previous year. This proportion has increased since 2023. Internet crime is often about fraud on online shopping or online banking, phishing and identity theft.

Recently, a survey by Schufa showed how large the lost money sums of some of the people affected by fraud with fake shops on the Internet. While a large part of the respondents lost between 100 and 1,000 euros, 1.6 percent stated that they had lost more than 10,000 euros in cybercriminals. You can find out more about this here.

“Cybercrime appears in everyday life from many people. Whether as a fraudulent email or as a fraud in online shopping,” said police crime prevention, Stefanie Hinz. Through intensive prevention work, the police help to make strategies for perpetrators public so that they run into nothing.

Hinz appealed to consumers to file a complaint if they are affected. “Prevention, enlightenment and consistent law enforcement make a decisive contribution to making the digital world safer.”

For the internet provider Vodafone, it is no surprise that Germans use fewer and fewer internet protection measures. “A possible reason that many mobile phone users become more careful when protected against cyber: we are getting used to the many news about dangers and attacks on the net and therefore seeing the acute danger and less and less see,” said Vodafone Germany boss Marcel de Groot. This applies to cell phone users as well as for companies. “The dangers are high: today it is more important than ever to protect yourself from possible attacks online.”