The demographics of cybercrime

Research has shown that there are indeed groups of the population who are more exposed to cybercrime. These include mostly uneducated and low-income groups. So cybercrime does not affect everyone equally. Certain demographic factors have an influence on it. Accordingly, it becomes apparent which people are particularly frequently targeted. Depending on their reaction, they then quickly become victims of cybercrime.

Disadvantaged groups

If the level of education is low or income is low, such groups are often disadvantaged. These people also feel insecure in the area of the Internet and online. The faster the corresponding attacks occur via the net. Those affected feel very emotionally burdened by this. For example, if it is a text message from an unknown number, women are very often affected by this situation. The same is true for messages that contain potentially malicious and harmful links. Credit card information is often stolen over the Internet from people who are over 65 years old. The level of online safety also varies significantly between countries. In the USA and the United Kingdom, people feel more at risk than in Germany, for example. Young people and children under 18 are particularly vulnerable to online fraud activities.

Reactions to these online threats also vary when you take a closer look at countries. Such attacks may well affect communication with relatives, so that the user feels restricted by these attacks.
There are clear differences in the following areas and categories:

·       income and education

·       gender

·       ethnical background

·       age

Security and privacy on the Internet therefore do not play the same role for everyone. In everyday life, Internet access is becoming increasingly intertwined with all the technology used. As a result, the threat of cybercrime is also growing.