While not being ones for filling out online questionnaires and seldom providing information over the internet, the Portuguese are, according to a new cyber-safety report, among the EU’s nations that are most vulnerable and exposed to online crime.
The recently-published ‘Cybersecurity in Portugal’ report found that Portugal is the country with the third highest number of cybercrime victims in the EU, and eighth on the list of countries at greatest risk of such crimes.
According to the report, compiled by the Economy Ministry’s Bureau for Strategy and Studies, “Portugal is the country where citizens least share their personal data” (43 percent) and contacts (15.2 percent), over the internet. Figures which are far below the corresponding EU averages of 71.4 percent and 61.1 percent, respectively.
But, the report found, when it comes to sharing photographs and location data in areas such as health and income, 33.5 percent of online users do so, which is higher than the 22.4 percent EU benchmark.
“In terms of daily internet users, Portugal has one of the worst results”, the study further concluded, with just 51 percent of people using mobile internet on phones or other devices, and therefore, given the low number of users, “the value of financial losses is also low” regarding crimes committed over the internet.
However, the number of victims of cybercrimes in Portugal is still the third highest in the EU, after Romania and Holland, with a “significant rise in pharming and phishing” having been noted, as well as a rise in “violation of privacy”.
Rounding off the top-five EU countries with the greatest number of cybercrime victims are Poland and Italy.