The invention of the internet has brought dynamic changes in this world. According to reports, the use of digital media, specifically social media, is growing at a rapid pace and the twenty-first century could be described as the “Boom” period for social networking. According to reports provided by Smart Insights, as of February 2019, there were over 3.484 billion social media users. The Smart Insight report indicates that the number of social media users is growing by 9 percent annually and this trend is expected to grow at the same pace. Presently, the number of social media users represents 45 percent of the global population. The heaviest users of social media are digital natives, the group of persons who were born or who have grown up in the digital era and are intimate with the various technologies and systems, and the “Millennial Generation”, those who became adults at the turn of the twenty-first century. These groups of users utilize social media platforms for just about anything ranging from marketing, news acquisition, teaching, health care, civic engagement, and politicking to social engagement.
However, the unethical use of social media has resulted in the breach of individual privacy and impacts both physical and information security. Reports in 2019 reveal that persons between the ages 8 and 11 years spend an average of 13.5 hours weekly online and 18 percent of this age group is actively engaged on social media. Those between ages 12 and 15 spend on average 20.5 hours online and 69 percent of this group are active social media users. While children and teenagers represent the largest internet user groups, for the most part, they do not know how to protect their personal information on the Web and are the most vulnerable to cyber-crimes related to breaches of information privacy.
In a press release sent to The Ethiopian Herald, Surfshark, a company working in cyber-security and a Gold winner in 2021 awards as the most innovative security service of the year announced that Ethiopia has the lowest data breach density worldwide.
The Cyber-security company Surfshark conducted a study on countries with the highest data breach rates worldwide. According to the research, Ethiopia has the lowest breach density in Africa and worldwide, with 0.5 breached email accounts per 100 internet users in 2021. At the same time, Sudan ranks first in the continent with 70 breached accounts (per 100 internet users). The research shows that Africa has the lowest breach rates on a continental level, followed by Asia and South America.
“Looking at the data breaches landscape in 2021, we see that 71.7 percent of the analyzed countries have a breach density that’s lower than the global average. This shows that hackers usually target particular countries such as Russia and the U.S. more than others,” – says Agneska Sablovskaja, Data Researcher at Surfshark. “However, 6 percent of all analyzed countries have an extremely high data breach density. To put this into perspective, more than half of the internet users in countries such as the U.S., Iran, Israel, the UAE, and Qatar got breached in 2021.”
While Africa has the lowest breach rates worldwide, North America has the highest, with 1 in 2 internet users being breached in 2021. This number is three times higher than the global average. Nevertheless, Iran is the country with the biggest breach density (231 emails per 100 users). The study also found that South Africa is the only African country making it to the top 10 countries with the most extensive overall cybercrime density. The country ranks 6th with 52 victims per 1M users in 2021, almost 92 times less than the list-leading UK (4,783 per 1M).
Data breaches are not the one and only way for criminals to get access to victims’ information. According to Surfshark’s study, phishing continues to be the most common cybercrime for the second year in a row. Accordingly, the following are some of the most popular cybercrimes worldwide.
In 2020, there were a total of 241,343 phishing victims. However, on average, phishing victims lost the least amount of money (USD136 per victim), while people who fell victim to investment fraud lost the most (USD 70,811 per victim on average).
At the same time, investment fraud had the highest financial impact in total on its victims. People lost about USD 1,5B this way in 2021. That year the least impactful online crime was the Denial of Service (DoS) attacks – only around 1,000 victims reported this crime with an average loss of USD 197.
“As the geopolitical tensions grow, we might see more cyber warfare and 0day spyware similar to Pegasus,” explains Aleksandr Valentij, Security Officer at Surfshark.
In total, cybercrime claimed at least 6,502,323 victims and USD 26,116,000,000 in losses over the last 21-year period. Thus, countering malpractices on the internet should be the responsibility of everyone to ensure sustainable positive impacts on the day-to-day socio-economic aspects of human life.
Studies are showing that, while social media are contributing a significant role in the daily activity of humankind, their adverse effect has also brought social crisis all over the society. This is especially true among the youth who are prone to internet addiction. Overuse of social media, online video gaming and attempts to hack someone`s account is considered among the youth as a sign of excellence. What is more, those social media users in developing countries are becoming more and more addicted to unethical videos and instruments of political activists and their evil desires. In this respect, proper measures are recommended by experts. This includes active involvement of parents, teachers and other concerned organs.
BY TEWODROS KASSA
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD THURSDAY 19 MAY 2022
