Millennials and Cybersecurity

I have a couple of Millennials living in my house and they are great at keeping me up-to-date on the latest music, funny videos, and social networks. They travel the Internet at lightening speed, and I worry that they aren’t as cautious about cybersecurity as I am. So this infographic was very reassuring to me.

It’s from the National Cyber Security Alliance (the people behind the STOP. THINK. CONNECT. campaign) and Raytheon, and it basically says that Millennials know what they are doing online. Good to know! Here are some highlights of their findings:

• 68% of Millennials say staying safe online is a shared responsibility… and most of them put themselves at the top of the list for sharing that responsibility.

• 84% believe the role of the Internet in their lives (personal and professional) will increase over the next decade.

• 75% protect their smart phones and other portable devices with a password.

• 75% are concerned about identity theft.

What I found interesting is that 60% said in the last year they had personal information stolen, gotten malware on a device, or experienced a personal violation online (like an embarrassing photo or rude comment).

I think it’s great that 40% of them surfed happily this past year without any major negative interactions! But perhaps they missed some major red flags, like the dangers of free Wi-Fi or sharing USB drives.

Even though being online can sometimes be dangerous or disruptive, Millennials are pretty savvy about staying safe and protecting themselves online. The infographic offers some great tips there, too: Keep a clean machine, make your passwords long and strong, etc. Take a look! No matter how young or old you are, you will learn a thing or two about cybersecurity.

- See more at: http://www.bbb.org/blog/2014/10/millennials-and-cybersecurity/#sthash.US2ermLt.dpuf