Over 55% millennials in India hit by cybercrime: Report

Over 55% of millennials (born between 1980-2000) in India have experienced cybercrime in the past year and globally, millennials are the most commonly affected victims, with 40% experiencing it last year, a report revealed on Saturday.

According to the `Norton Cyber Security Insights` report by security software firm Norton by Symantec, "39% Indian millennials have either experienced ransomware themselves or know someone who has". 

"Millennials emerged as the password sharing generation in India with 34% of them admitting to sharing passwords of various accounts," said Ritesh Chopra, Country Manager, Norton by Symantec, in a statement. 

Of those who have experienced ransomware, 80% of the millennial victims did so in the past one year alone. 

Further, 18 % of millennial victims paid the ransom, yet, did not gain access to their files, the findings showed. 

When it comes to Wi-Fi usage, 30% millennials agreed to have used their neighbour`s Wi-Fi network without their permissions, compared to 22% of the overall respondents.

While overall, one in four consumers regularly use public Wi-Fi connections available at airports, coffee and shops, this rises to 33% among millennials. 

Putting their cyber security at risk, 60% of these millennials are willing to give into actions such as answering a survey question, install a third-party app (43%), provide access to files while online (25%) and turn off their security software (24%) to gain access to free public Wi-Fi. 

In order to protect your information, Norton recommends these practices -- avoid password promiscuity, do not pay the ransom and backup, be in control when online, know the ins and outs of public Wi-Fi networks -- to millennials. 

The Norton report is an online survey of 20,907 device users ages 18+ across 21 markets, commissioned by Norton by Symantec and produced by research firm Edelman Intelligence.