41 pct of German netizens once fell victim to cybercrime: survey

BERLIN, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- 41 percent of German internet users have once fallen victim to cybercrime, said a survey released Monday by German cybersecurity authority and police.

19 percent of them were affected by malicious software, the most common cybercrime type, followed by scam when online shopping, phishing, ID information leakage, etc, according to the survey published on the eve of "Safer Internet Day" that falls on Tuesday.

52 percent of victims chose to solve the problems themselves, 24 percent went to family or friends for help, only 19 percent reported to the police, according to the survey.

71 percent of internet users find cybersecurity "especially important" when using online banking service. But only four percent realized the importance when connecting household appliances to the internet, it said.

While two-thirds of internet users installed antivirus software and firewall, other essential safeguard procedures were seldom used, it added.

"Internet safety can not be achieved by only single protection method. Safer behaviors in internet must be as self-evident as in road traffic," said Arne Schoenbohm, President of German Federal Office for Information Security. Enditem