Survey reveals Wisconsin gets a "D" grade on cybersecurity

How likely are you to become a victim of cybercrime? While most of us feel confident that we are savvy when it comes to online scams and viruses, a recent survey found that many Americans are not secure in their online behavior.

In fact, according to the 2020 Cyber Hygiene Risk Index, most Americans received a failing grade of “F” and only a quarter achieve an “A” or a “B” grade. Wisconsin was rated 44th, but David Dufour, a cybersecurity expert at Webroot, said that’s still a “D” grade.

As a result, this lack of good cyber hygiene means that many individuals are leaving personal and business data in the hands of would-be cyber criminals.

The survey found that the top cyberattacks that respondents are worried about are viruses, identity theft and being hacked. Most respondents also believe their personal devices are more secure or just as secure as their work devices. But, 70% of those surveyed are not using an identity protection service.

Identity theft from misuse of a credit or debit card accounts for 48% of those surveyed, and 42% of those surveyed use the same password for business and personal online accounts. That’s why it’s important to use two factor authentication on everything you can.

With the increase in “live off the land” attacks where hackers use Windows components to carry out attacks, cybersecurity experts encourage strong access controls to programs such as PowerShell, removing Java and to disable Office Macros.

Also make sure you check your social media privacy and data collection preferences, especially with Facebook apps.