Safe surfers: These are the most security-conscious people in Europe
Due to the steadily increasing digitalization, the GDPR was introduced as an EU regulation in 2018. Standardized data protection is intended to ensure that internet users have full control over how their data is used. Companies and private individuals across Europe had to adapt to these measures and rules in order to make the internet a safer place. How well people in Europe have adapted to the GDPR provides insight into how security-aware and internet-savvy people are in different European countries. heyData conducted a study to find out which European countries are the safest online, highlighting differences between countries and between different age groups. Using data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, we examined EU countries as well as Norway, Turkey, Iceland, and the United Kingdom, and analyzed the following age groups: 16–24, 25–54, and 55–74.
The study focuses on the following factors to identify security-conscious and internet-savvy individuals:
People who have not had a virus on their PC in the last three months
People who have not had a virus on theis PC in the last three month
People who use anti-tracking software
The level of privacy settings of individuals on social media
People who protect their personal data from advertisers
Individuals who were not affected by payment fraud
Whether a person prevents or restricts cookies
Based on these factors, we were able to create a ranking that shows where people are safest when using the internet.
Age group
Methodology
The aim of the study is to find out which countries and age groups are most Internet-savvy. The countries of the European Union as well as Norway, Turkey, Iceland, and the United Kingdom were examined.
Bulgaria, Croatia, Malta, Cyprus, and Romania had to be excluded from the study due to insufficient data and in order to enable a fair comparison between all countries.
For the study, all countries were analyzed in the following eight areas: Internet users who had not been affected by viruses in the last three months, had not been affected by misuse of personal data or violations of privacy, had not been affected by financial losses due to fraudulent payments, had not been affected by phishing, as well as the level of data protection of profiles on social media, browser settings to prevent or restrict cookies, the use of anti-tracking software, and the protection of personal data from advertisers.
All influencing factors were selected based on their significance in terms of objective security when using the internet.
The ranking was created according to age groups (16-24, 25-54, and 55-74), gender, and country.
The result is a ranking of the leading nations, age groups, and genders in terms of internet security and affinity.
Research area 1: Users who have not been affected by viruses (computer malware) in the last 3 months
With increasing digitalization, protecting computers from viruses has become a necessity, and having appropriate protection in place demonstrates how security-conscious users are. A computer virus is a malicious program or code that alters the way a computer functions and can spread from computer to computer. The virus can attach itself to a legitimate document or program.
This area of research examined how many people had not had a virus on their computer in the last three months. The data for this was taken from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The lower the score, the better users protect themselves with antivirus software.
Research area 2: Individuals who are not affected by misuse of personal data or violations of privacy (personal data)
The misuse of personal data can take many forms, such as the loss of personal data or the sharing of data with unauthorized recipients. A data breach is broadly defined as a security incident that compromises the integrity, confidentiality, or availability of personal data. A data breach occurs when personal data is destroyed, lost, damaged, or disclosed, or when it is shared without authorization or made inaccessible.
A lower score in this area reflects a high level of security awareness. The data was taken from the last three available months and comes from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Research area 3: Individuals who have not suffered financial losses as a result of fraudulent payments (payment fraud)
With increasing digitalization, protecting computers from viruses has become a necessity, and having appropriate protection in place demonstrates how security-conscious users are. A computer virus is a malicious program or code that alters the way a computer works and can spread from computer to computer. The virus can attach itself to a legitimate document or program.
This area of research examined how many people had not had a virus on their computer in the last three months. The data for this was taken from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The lower the score, the better users protect themselves with antivirus software.
Research area 4: People who are not affected by phishing (phishing)
Phishing is an attack on a computer to steal data such as credit card numbers or login details. The attacker pretends to be a trustworthy authority and tries to trick victims into opening an email, text message, or instant message and providing sensitive data such as bank details or passwords.
A low score indicates a high level of knowledge about phishing and the use of appropriate protective measures. The data comes from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and refers to the last three months.
Research area 5: Level of data protection for profiles on social media
The study examined data protection competence in social media profiles and content. A high level of data protection prevents personal information from being viewed by companies, users, or unauthorized third parties.
Field of investigation 1: Users who have not been affected by viruses (computer malware) in the last 3 months
Research area 6: Users who have not been affected by viruses (computer malware) in the last 3 months
This section covers people who have changed the settings in their internet browser to limit the number of active cookies or block them entirely. Cookies are text files that contain data such as a user name or password to identify your computer when using a computer network. The data stored in a cookie is intended only for you and your computer. Deleting cookies erases the information stored in your browser and is useful, for example, if you do not want other people to be able to see your browsing history.
The higher the score, the greater the awareness among users of limiting or preventing cookies. The data was taken from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Research area 7: Protection of personal data from advertisers
Advertisers have the option of accessing data on personal characteristics for targeted advertising. Advertisers can do this via social media or well-known search engines, for example. However, the GDPR gives individuals a high degree of control over how advertisers can collect, store, and use their data. The higher the score, the better a person can protect their personal data from advertisers. The data was taken from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development over the last twelve months.
Research Area 8: Using Anti-Tracking Software
Anti-tracking software increases the privacy protection of a computer when surfing the Internet. Anti-tracking tools are able to prevent the transfer of unsafe data to your computer and block advertisements that collect users' personal data. A high score means that anti-tracking software is more likely to be used. The data was provided by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Results and evaluation
To calculate a ranking, all results of the influencing factors examined were standardized. Points on a scale between 0 and 100 were used for this purpose. The age and country that proved to be particularly progressive in terms of internet affinity for the respective influencing factor were awarded a score of 100. The country or age group that proved to be the least progressive in terms of data protection measures for the respective influencing factor was awarded a score of 0.
All points from all influencing factors in a field of investigation were then added together. The sum yielded the field of study result. Finally, all eight field of study results were added together and this final result was also normalized on a point scale between 0 and 100. The normalized final result corresponds to the communicated final ranking.
The calculation was performed using the following normalization formula: x new = x – x minx max – x min