21st October 2013
Today sees the launch of Get Safe Online Week, an annual awareness campaign organised by Get Safe Online to reinforce the fact that people can stay online safely just by following some simple precautions.
For this year's campaign, we have launched the Online Code of Conduct – a set of ten safety tips (shown here), which cover a wide variety of topics from the importance of protecting your smartphone or tablet with a PIN, through how to tell if a shopping or banking web page is secure, to who to report an internet fraud to if you are unfortunate enough to be scammed.
The campaign follows research commissioned earlier this month by Get Safe Online, questioning 2,004 UK adults. The research reveals some interesting facts about the online behaviour and habits of the population, including:
– 59% have had bad online experiences – ranging from an email account being hacked to having our credit or debit card details stolen
– The average loss per victim to online crime is £236
– 42% have a password or PIN on their mobile, and 38% do not have one on their tablet
– 25% put security software on their mobile devices
– 47% do not always log out of websites or apps when they have finished using them
– 49% use the same password for all of their online accounts
– 40% use the most obvious personal information to create their password
– 31% of social media users have accepted a 'friend' they do not know in real life
Security Minister James Brokenshire said: “Get Safe Online Week is a great opportunity to highlight some quick and easy steps people can take to ensure their online experience stays a positive one. Alongside this practical advice we’ve launched the National Crime Agency and the National Cyber Crime Unit and taken the fight to the hackers, fraudsters and criminals who prey on innocent individuals. Building on the advice of Get Safe Online we will be launching a campaign in the New Year to encourage people to be more aware of their online safety.”
Get Safe Online's Chief Exec Tony Neate said: “As this survey has shown, the most fundamental rules of online safety are not being followed by everyone all of the time. But the things we need to do to protect ourselves are really straightforward, and will save us time, money and hassle in the long run. This is why we’ve created a really simple ‘Code of Conduct’ for everyone to follow at home and at work. Just like crossing the road, there are certain things we should be doing automatically to make sure we stay safe and enjoy being online."
Tony and other Get Safe Online spokespeople will be appearing in various national media during the week to explain why we have taken this initiative, and commenting on topical issues around internet safety.
