McAfee announced findings from its ‘2020 Holiday Season: State of Today’s Digital e-Shopper’ India survey, revealing that while consumers are aware of increased online risks and scams, they still plan to shop more online this festive season.
McAfee’s survey indicates that Indian consumers have shifted direction due to global events this year, opening themselves to more online threats as they live, work, play, and buy all through their devices. Consumers of all ages are shopping online more due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than half (68.1%) reporting an uptick since COVID-19 started. This trend will also likely go up during the holiday season, with almost half (42.3%) planning on increasing their online shopping activity over the festive period.
A whopping $4.1 billion e-commerce sales transactions were recorded in the first week of 2020 after the festive season, compared to $2.7 billion in 2019. This reveals more people have been connecting and shopping online this year – for both themselves, for family and friends. Close to one in three (29.5%) of Indians are shopping online 3-5 days a week and 15.7% are shopping every day.
McAfee’s Advanced Threat Research team recently found evidence that online cybercrime continues to increase, with McAfee Labs observing 419 threats per minute in Q2 2020, an increase of almost 12% over the previous quarter. With activity set to rise from both consumers and criminals, there is an added concern of whether consumers are taking security threats as seriously as they should – with key differences seen across generational groups:
- 79.7% of those 65+ in age believe there is a greater cyber risk due to COVID-19 while even more (81%) of those 18-24 state the same
- A quarter (25.1%) of 18-24-year olds don’t think about their online activity as it relates to cyber-crime, whilst almost 4 in 10 (37.6%) 45-54 year olds are aware, but it does not impact their online activity
“Shopping behaviors continue to evolve, with consumers skipping in-store purchases to a great extent and shifting a bulk of their festive purchases online. In a bid to avail the best holiday deals and discounts, consumers open themselves up to risks on malicious websites, falling prey to phishing attacks through spam mails that are weaponised. Often, they carelessly give away personal information online that is then misused by cybercriminals for their nefarious gains.” said Venkat Krishnapur, Vice President of Engineering and Managing Director, McAfee India. “It becomes even easier for cybercriminals to take advantage of innocent users, considering only 27.5% of online buyers use online security solutions. With cybercriminals looking to take advantage of this surge in online transactions, it is crucial that users stay mindful of potential risks and undertake necessary steps to protect themselves and their families this holiday season.”
This juxtaposition of increased online activity from both consumers and cybercriminals serves as the perfect catalyst for malicious misdeeds, especially as 32.1% of consumers note that while they are aware of cyber risks, they have no plans to change their online buying habits. This less-than-cautious approach is further seen when respondents are offered deals or discounts, with only 23.8% of respondents sometimes checking to festive sales deals sent via email or text emails are authentic and trustworthy.
McAfee’s research reveals greater awareness and proactivity is needed from consumers when it comes to protecting themselves online. Consumers need to take initiative to protect their devices, actions, and identities, from online criminals. In order to stay safe this holiday season, McAfee advises:
- Employ multi-factor authentication to double check the authenticity of digital users and add an additional layer of security to protect personal data and information.
- Browse with caution and added security using a tool like McAfee WebAdvisor to block malware and phishing sites via malicious links.
- Protect your identity and important personal and financial details using McAfee Identity Theft Protection, which also includes recovery tools should your identity be compromised.
2020 Holiday Season: State of Today’s Digital e-Shopper Survey Methodology:
McAfee commissioned 3Gem to conduct a survey of 1,000 adults over the age of 18 in India between October 9-19, 2020.
