Norton Special Report Reveals 3 in 4 Gamers Surveyed in India Have Experienced a Cyberattack
Bangalore – NortonLifeLock, a global leader in consumer Cyber Safety, today published the findings of a global study that sheds light on the cyber risks impacting the gaming community.
The 2021 Norton Cyber Safety Insights Report: Special Release – Gaming & Cybercrime, conducted by The Harris Poll among 703 Indian adults who play online games found that three quarters of surveyed Indian gamers (75%) have experienced cyberattack to their gaming account, most commonly detecting malicious software on a gaming device (35%) and detecting unauthorized access to an online gaming account (29%). Of those who experienced a cyberattack, more than 4 in 5 (81%) reported that they were financially impacted as a result and have lost ₹7894 Indian rupees on an average[1].
Gamers are also willing to take various actions that could compromise the security of themselves or others simply to give themselves a competitive edge. The research discovered that 2 in 5 Indian gamers (42%) say they are at least somewhat likely to hack into the account of a friend, family member, or romantic partner if they knew it would give them a competitive advantage.
Ritesh Chopra, Director Sales and Field Marketing, India & SAARC Countries, NortonLifeLock said, “Our report reveals that online gaming is not all about fun and games. In the virtual field we must take precautions to protect information we share, to avoid becoming vulnerable to cyberattack. With online gaming, come concerns including hidden fees and in-game currency, characters, or other items being lost or stolen, as our survey showed to be the case for over half of respondents (fees, 60%; in-game items, 58%). In these challenging times, it is crucial to stay updated and aware of the threats that can compromise your safety and privacy in this complex digital world.”
In India, 56 per cent of respondents say that they are at least somewhat likely to exploit a loophole or bug in a game to give themselves a competitive advantage, and around 2 in 5 or more would consider paying to take possession of another user’s gaming account (48%), installing cheats to their gaming account or gaming device (46%), or hacking into the gaming account of a random player (39%).
Additional findings from the study include:
More than 6 in 10 gamers in India (62%) say they picked up gaming during the COVID-19 pandemic and many (60%) say the amount of time they spend gaming has increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over 2 in 5 gamers (41%) have been tricked into compromising their personal security, either by being downloading malware on to a gaming device (28%) or tricked into sharing account information online (26%). Notably, 1 in 5 gamers (21%) have been doxed (i.e., had personal information stolen and posted/shared publicly online, without their consent).
Nearly 3 in 4 Indian gamers (72%) say that they would never fall for a gaming scam, and more than half (53%) agree that they don’t give much thought, if any, to the security of their gaming devices.
For gamers looking to take proactive steps to help safeguard their accounts and devices from threats, Norton 360 for Gamers offers advanced protection features specifically designed to address gamers’ unique security needs, without interfering with gameplay. Dark Web Monitoring scans for gamers’ gamer tags, usernames and other personal information on the dark web, and with Game Optimizer, gamers can maximize game performance for a more immersive gameplay experience. For more information, please visit https://in.norton.com/products/norton-360-for-gamers
In partnership with Harris Poll, the report surveyed adults ages 18+ across 8 countries, including 703 Indian adults, to explore the Cyber Safety risks gamers face and their online security attitudes and behaviors.
To view the study’s full results and accompanying visual assets, please visit the press kit at: https://www.nortonlifelock.com/us/en/newsroom/press-kits/2021-norton-cyber-safety-insights-report-special-release-gaming-and-cybercrime/
About the 2021 Norton Cyber Safety Insights Report: Special Release – Gaming & Cybercrime
The research was conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of NortonLifeLock among 5,327 adults aged 18+ who currently play online games that require them to create an account and provide personal information (referred to in this report as “gamers”). The survey was conducted August 24 through September 14, 2021 in Australia (n=704), France (n=701), Germany (n=701), India (n=703), Japan (n=606), New Zealand (n=505), the United Kingdom (n=705), and the United States (n=702). Data are weighted where necessary by age, gender, race/ethnicity, region, education, marital status, household size, and household income to bring them in line with their actual proportions in the population. No estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
