Internet users lose USD 476 on average per cyber attack: Study

New Delhi: Internet users lost about USD 476 or Rs 32,400 on an average to cyber attacks, a study by security software firm Kaspersky Lab said on Friday.

Also, over half (52 per cent) of Internet users who lost money at the hands of cybercriminals have only got some, or none, of their stolen funds back, the report said.

"With the variety and sophistication of online financial threats against consumers growing, losses from online fraud, identity theft and hacking are now running at billions a year," it said.

With many cases going unreported, the true economic cost is likely to be significantly higher, it added.

"The research reveals how costly these attacks are for Internet users, and how lucrative they've become for cybercriminals. On average, Internet users lose USD 476 per attack and one-in-ten people surveyed said they lost more than USD 5,000," it said.

A large majority of respondents said they conduct financial operations online (81 per cent) and just under half (44 per cent) store financial data on their connected devices.

As more users go online to manage their finances, more cybercriminals are looking for opportunities to cash in, making it important for users to have robust Internet security in place to protect themselves and their money.

However, only 60 per cent respondents said they protect all their devices.

Interestingly, almost half (45 per cent) respondents said that they assume they will be reimbursed by banks for financial cybercrime without any problem, but as the survey shows, over half (52 per cent) of people affected have not had all their stolen money returned.

"Cybercriminals are continually looking for new ways to exploit and defraud consumers and that's why it's important for Internet users to be on their guard at all times," Kaspersky Lab Head Anti-Malware Research Team Vyacheslav Zakorzhevsky said.