Safer Internet Day 2023

New
search
trends
insights
show
Australians
are
more
concerned
about
cyber
security
than
ever
before
with
Australia
ranking
in
the
top
3
countries
in
the
world
searching
for
‘data
breach’.

The
new
data,
released
on
Safer
Internet
Day,
covers
searches
across
the
country
in
2022
and
shows
record
interest
in
the
topic,
with
150%
increases
in
queries
for
‘data
breach’
and
‘privacy
settings’
compared
to
last
year.

Interest
in
‘cyber
attack’,
‘SMS
phishing’
and
‘password
manager’
increased
by
70%,
while
‘password
strength’
was
up
by
50%.
Australia
also
ranked
in
the
top
10
countries
in
the
world
searching
for
‘trojan
horse’,
‘identity
theft’,
‘spoofing
attack’,
‘cyber
attack’
and
‘internet
safety’.

Samantha
Yorke,
Google
Australia’s
senior
manager
of
Public
Policy
says
the
trends
data
shows
Australians
are
concerned
particularly
in
relation
to
phishing
attacks
and
password
hacks.

“The
results
show
that
there
are
a
lot
of
people
looking
for
answers
on
how
to
protect
themselves.
Perhaps
they
experienced
an
attack
themselves
or
saw
it
on
the
news
and
it
can
be
worrying
and
confusing
in
finding
the
best
way
to
guard
yourself,”
Ms
Yorke
said.

“To
better
protect
yourself
online,
I’d
recommend
these
three
simple
steps
which
go
a
long
way
to
protecting
your
account,
emails
and
personal
information.”

Top
three
tips
to
protect
yourself
online:

1. 
   “Use
   a
   password
   manager: A
   password
   manager
   not
   only
   helps
   you
   remember
   your
   many
   passwords,
   but
   also
   securely
   stores
   and
   saves
   them.
   This
   is
   often
   free,
   and
   is
   simple
   and
   effective
   in
   protecting
   your
   accounts. Google
   Password
   Manager is
   one
   option
   and
   helps
   you
   create
   unique
   passwords
   that
   are
   hard
   to
   crack.
2. 
   “Turn
   on
   2-step
   verification: Cyber
   attacks
   happen
   with
   just
   one
   click.
   But
   enrolling
   2-step
   verification
   gives
   your
   email
   and
   accounts
   an
   added
   layer
   of
   security
   when
   you
   sign
   in
   and
   protects
   against
   it
   being
   compromised.
3. 
   “Be
   alert
   for
   phishing
   scams: Hackers
   use
   phishing
   emails
   to
   steal
   personal
   information
   so
   it’s
   important
   to
   be
   able
   to
   spot
   suspicious
   emails,
   texts
   or
   phone
   calls
   from
   sources
   pretending
   to
   be
   from
   your
   bank,
   stores
   you
   frequent,
   or
   a
   friend.
   It’s
   always
   best
   to
   avoid
   directly
   clicking
   on
   a
   link,
   instead,
   go
   directly
   to
   the
   site
   yourself
   and
   type
   in
   the
   URL.
   Globally,
   we
   protect
   Gmail
   users
   from
   nearly
   15
   billion
   unwanted
   messages
   a
   day,
   blocking
   more
   than
   99.9%
   of
   spam,
   phishing
   and
   malware

“These
are
simple
and
easy
steps
that
can
play
a
large
role
in
protecting
yourself
online.
We’ve
provided
more
tips
and
information
at
our Safety
Centre and
you
can
take
a Security
Checkup to
get
more
personalised
security
recommendations,
including
setting
up
2-step
verification,”
Ms
Yorke
said.

About Author

AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

See author's posts