Cyber Attacks: Are our politicians unprotected against computer attacks? Should more resources be devoted to protecting them because they are more importantly “high profile” and represent us? Well, one in three says yes according to a survey that also includes high-level journalists.
Spanish politicians, unprotected on the Internet
Today is February 8, Safer Internet Day, and for them Google commissioned the global survey expert site YouGov to conduct one on the safety of politicians and journalists. The sample collects the opinion of 350 politicians and 355 journalists from 10 countries, including Spain. And in our country, they feel unprotected on the Internet.
62% believe their professions make them more likely to be targeted by hacking or phishing attacks
83% of Spanish high-level users surveyed consider that the threat of receiving cyberattacks has increased in the last two years, an idea supported by 87% of politicians and 80% of journalists surveyed.
Three out of four point to the increased sophistication of hacking and phishing techniques as the cause, while others point to remote work as the cause (58% of politicians and 42% of journalists).
Those surveyed have been victims of these risks, and a third of them admit that their digital accounts have been ‘hacked’ on some occasion or have suffered unauthorized access by a third party, a somewhat higher figure in politicians than in journalists (37% vs . 30%).
More politicians hacked in Spain than journalists
The results of the survey show that the political class is more prone to cyber attacks† Of the total number of respondents, 18% have suffered a hack during 2021, but if we divide it by both classes, we obtain that:
30% of Spanish politicians have been cyberattacked in the last year
6% of Spanish journalists have been cyberattacked in the last year
Both groups agree that they demand greater protection, and 95% of those surveyed agree that it is necessary to improve the cyber protection of these profiles:
100% of politicians ask to improve the protection of their profiles
63% of politicians are more nervous about sharing files online or handling sensitive information than they were two years ago
73% of journalists feel more nervous about sharing files online or handling sensitive information than they did two years ago,