South Africa’s cyber crime density – the percentage of cyber crime victims among a specific number of internet users – has increased by 8% from 2021 to 2022, which places the country in fifth position globally.
This is based on research by cyber security company and VPN provider Surfshark, which developed the Data Vulnerability Thermometer combining open-source FBI information and research algorithms.
Research showed that in 2022, 56 out of one million internet users in South Africa were hit by cyber crime – which equates to a total of 2 000 cyber crime victims.
The UK topped the list for cyber crime density with 4 371 cyber crime victims per one million internet users, followed by the US with 1 612 victims, Canada with 156, Australia with 106 and then South Africa with 56. While this number may seem low, it’s worth noting that it places South Africa higher than France, Germany, Greece, Mexico and Spain on Surfshark’s global top ten cyber crime density list.
Other highlights of the report include:
- Phishing was the most prevalent cyber crime worldwide in 2022, with a victim count of 300 000 users, Surfshark found.
- Online payment fraud was the second most common type of cyber…
