Across Europe, the high cost of living and inflation presents a gloomy economic outlook for 2024. As a result, wary consumers are tightening household spending on everything from food to online shopping and smartphones. But in a bid to make digital cutbacks in 2024, they also risk compromising personal privacy by willingly sharing logins to streaming services, shows Kaspersky.
Kaspersky’s digital resolutions survey for 2024 sheds light on evolving consumer behaviour and trends, and highlights dynamic ways people in the UK and Europe are planning to navigate the cost of living in the coming year.
Digital sales heightening the
risk of payments fraud
As people tighten their spending habits to help ease the cost of living, 62
percent of respondents expect to be more mindful of how they store payment
information online. Taking just milliseconds to pay for online shopping,
‘one-click payments’ allow customers to store financial data with their
favourite stores. Offered as a way of paying for purchases quickly and easily
at checkout by many businesses, merchant security tokens are not always as
secure as they seem.
According to the Kaspersky experts, scams and phishing are favoured tactics for
fraudsters seeking profit. In the first 10 months of 2023, the company
identified 30,803,840 phishing attacks targeting online shopping, payment
systems, and banking institutions, with e-commerce
platforms used as a lure in 43.5 percent of total attacks (13,390,142
attacks).
Despite this caution, 60 percent of participants are eager to seek more online bargains, and 49 percent plan to explore a variety of free online activities, potentially increasing their exposure to online fraud.
Streaming services
logins
In addition to fewer people planning to upgrade their smartphone this year as a
way of alleviating the impact on their cost of living, streaming services are
also going to take a hit in 2024, as 36 percent of respondents expect to reduce
the number of streaming services they subscribe to, and 32 percent admitting
they are comfortable sharing logins with friends and family. Digital resolution
research shows while young Gen Z (aged 18-25) demand complete privacy, they are
more willing to share streaming service passwords, despite being unsure about
the safety of their accounts because they do not know the digital habits of
friends or family. Baby Boomers (aged 55-65) meanwhile, are less likely to
share logins.
Alarmingly, almost a quarter (23%) admit they consider planning to download or
stream films or TV illegally, leaving them open to fraud or personal
information being shared on the dark web. Despite international disparities,
there is a consistent global trend in reducing streaming services as a
cost-cutting measure.
Shifting spending habits for 2024 reveals countries take different steps
to address the cost of living. France and Germany are less likely to use the
internet to access cheaper or free deals and activities than the other
countries. Also, other than opting not to upgrade
their smartphones in 2024, German respondents are more reluctant to take any
steps to address cost of living compared to all other countries.
“As great as the internet can be for comparing prices and getting a bargain,
it’s also a haven for fraudsters and scams. So, it’s really important that, as people make personal financial priorities for 2024 and
carefully examine their online spending, they remain mindful of potential dangers. It is also imperative to think about your security when sharing passwords with friends and
family. It may seem magnanimous and harmless, but one compromised password
could easily lead to many compromised accounts and whole host of knock-on
costs. By being more mindful of which stores want your financial data and not
sharing streaming passwords, you can create a more organized, secure, and
cost-effective digital lifestyle in 2024,” comments David Emm, Principal
Security Researcher for Kaspersky.
To help consumers help make 2024 their safest online, we encourage people to challenge their friends and loved ones when making digital savings and support their online privacy with these simple steps:
- Secure all devices you use for online transactions – banking, shopping, socialising, – by applying patches and internet security in time.
- Use a unique, complex password for all your online accounts.
- Review your privacy and security settings carefully and limit what can be seen and shared.
- Disable apps and features unless you’re using them.
- Disable tracking services and location services, and clear cookies regularly.
- Check your email against services such as “Have I Been Pwned” to see if any of your digital accounts have been compromised”.
Research methodology
An online survey of 5,000 European adults aged 18-64 with nationally representative quotas set for gender, age and region conducted by independent market research agency, Arlington Research, between November and December 2023.
