Helsinki, Finland - September 28, 2021: Cyber security providerF-Securehas become a 2021 STOP.THINK.CONNECT partner and a champion to support Cybersecurity Awareness Month, which marks its 18th year this October. The Champions Program brings together leaders from business, academia, government and community groups to promote the awareness of online safety and privacy.

"We're proud to add our voice to this essential online safety awareness and education initiative," said Brian Murray, who leads F-Secure's North America Operator Business. "We know that we can only ask others to do their part to help secure our digital society if we do ours."

New F-Secure research reveals how crucial the effort to build cyber security awareness is.

An international survey that has tracked consumers' cyber security attitudes and behaviors since 2015 shows that concerns about cyber threats have risen to new heights, prompting users to take new steps to protect themselves:*

  • The share of internet users who say they feel the internet has become a more dangerous place and have changed their online behavior as a result has risen from 58% in 2015 to 65% in 2021.
  • 59% say their data privacy worries are on the rise resulting in new habits, up from 52% in 2015.

"Awareness is key, but it can be worse than useless if you don't know what to do with it," said Murray. "We're thrilled consumers are matching their anxieties with action. And we want to do our best to make sure they're taking the right actions."

Cybersecurity Awareness Month's main focus areas offer concrete steps everyone can take to protect their devices, data and identity. These include:

  • Take steps to improve cyber hygiene, including using strong passphrases and multi-factor authentication along with running secure, updated software.
  • Recognize and report phishing attempts whether it's through email, text messages, or chat boxes.
  • Empower individuals to join the mission of securing our online world by considering a career in cyber security.

"Technology gives us so much, still there are costs to being so connected," said Murray. "With awareness backed by action, we can reduce those costs and do even more online."

Join the effort and find resources from the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) here and find out more about Cybersecurity Awareness Month and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) here.

To get more cyber security safety insights from F-Secure experts, visit our Connected Life YouTube page.

*Source: F-Secure Consumer Surveys conducted in 2015 and 2021 in Brazil, France, Germany, UK, and US, n=4000 (800 respondents per country).

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F-Secure Oyj published this content on 28 September 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 28 September 2021 13:31:07 UTC.