69% of employees use their personal phones to manage work tasks; this was reported in an August 2022 survey conducted by Census Wide. One of the main challenges in bridging cybersecurity gaps is educating millions of people in a coordinated way. When asked where they sought advice on internet and device security behaviors, the answers were mostly that they were going to friends and family (50%) or social media (48%).

advice and opinions

Personal advice and opinions about cybersecurity can lead to a deficit in taking the right preventive measures. It may seem to the average person that their home WiFi wireless network is unlikely to be compromised or that they may be stolen from their data while using a public network. However, it takes a single opportunity and a very short window of time to access the information cybercriminals need to collect.

survey methodology

The EMEA Consumer Security Survey included responses from more than 8,000 respondents from eight countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, including 1,006 users surveyed in Saudi Arabia during August 2022. Fifty-one percent of respondents in that period were full-time, 16 percent part-time, and the rest of the participants were either unemployed, students, housewives, or had their own work. Regardless of employment status, more than half of respondents expressed that cybercrime targeting companies made them aware of the fact that their personal data is now more at risk than it was 12 months ago.

summary of the results

Fifty-four percent of respondents said cybercrime targeting businesses led them to notice that their personal data is now more at risk than it was 12 months ago. However, 69% use their personal phones to manage work tasks, and 61% use unsafe public Internet networks to perform basic work tasks. 29% of respondents do not use or do not know MFA multi-factor authentication.