NEARLY 90% OF NL RESIDENTS NOT WORRIED ABOUT DIGITAL SECURITY

Despite an “explosive increase in cyber crime” since the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis, fewer and fewer Netherlands residents are worried about their digital security, internet provider XS4ALL said after surveying over 1,500 people. 88 percent of respondents said that they rarely to never worry about their online safety, compared to 61 percent last year.

“This development is strange because more and more risks have been added in recent years,” Arjan van Hattum of XS4ALL said. “Online safety is a topic that is also in the news a lot. In addition, people have more and more devices at home with which they are online, which makes then increasingly susceptible to attacks. The Dutch really need to become more aware of their online security.”

The coronavirus crisis resulted in a massive increase in the number of people who work from home, but 23 percent of respondents said that they have taken no measures to safely use the internet when they work at home. 41 percent even said that they don’t know whether they have a secure connection at home.

Two thirds of respondents said that they think people are responsible for their own internet safety at home. “It is nice to see that the Dutch also feel responsible,” Van Hattum said, but added that this is also a major source of concern as their survey also showed that 20 percent of Dutch don’t even have a virus scanner.