Radical changes in their digital tendencies are being launched by users around the world for 2020; more than 4 in 10 will change their digital routine in 2020, creating new digital expectations for the new year. According to a recent Kaspersky survey, the majority of people aim to reduce the time spent with their various gadgets daily. Research has revealed that there are many areas that people want to improve, such as reducing the time they spend in front of the screen (29.1%), or not sleeping with their smartphone next to their pillow (18.3%). This shows that digital detoxification is still on the rise. 2019 was a difficult year for personal data; password thefts were up 60% more than in 2018, login abuse was also on the rise, while online porn and adult websites were up more than 100%.This has led to more than half of Internet users (56%) feeling that complete privacy in the modern digital world is impossible and to one in three (32.3%) having uncertainty about how they can fully protect their privacy on the Internet.

Given these data, it is not surprising that the findings of a new survey conducted by Kaspersky show that 42.3% of users have confirmed that they will try to improve their digital habits for the new year. For example, one quarter of respondents (25%) decided to back up more regurarly and clean their desktop on a regular basis, while 11.2% want to delete friends they have never met in person from Facebook. Overall, it appears that an emerging trend for 2020 is investing in cyber-knowledge.

Aiming to protect users from all kinds of online threats they can face, Kaspersky recommends;

  • Securing all the devices used for online transactions, banking, shopping and socializing by applying patches and online security in a timely manner.
  • Usage of a unique, complex password for each online account being used.
  • Careful review of privacy and security settings and limit what can be detected and shared.
  • Disabling applications and features unless used.
  • Disabling of monitoring and location services and clearing cookies on a regular basis.
  • Checking of emails with the help of services like “Have I Been Pawned” to see if any of your digital accounts have been compromised.

 
Chris Poultsidis
Larissa TEAM