New York Is the Most Digitally Vulnerable State in the U.S.

These days, just about every aspect of human life is digitally connected. We spend almost every waking hour somehow connected to the Internet however, many forget to take the necessary precautions to keep themselves safe online – particularly New Yorkers.

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In 2021, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center took in over 2.6 million complaints concerning cyber attacks and malicious activity against citizens. only about half of people back up their devices on a regular basis and only about 39 percent of people keep a copy of important data on the cloud, a whole lot of information being lost to cyber-attacks and malicious activity.

New York Is the Most Digitally Vulnerable State

According to Secure Data Recovery, New York is the number one most digitally vulnerable state in the United States. In other words, residents of New York are more likely to fall victim to hackers and malware.

Why Are New Yorkers So Digitally Vulnerable?

Why is New York more vulnerable than other states? Simply put, New Yorkers are clicking on things they shouldn’t be. One in three New Yorkers has clicked on a suspicious advertisement, link, or attachment in the last 12 months.

Why Are Password Managers So Bad?

Clicking on suspicious links isn’t the only unsafe thing New Yorkers are doing. 79 percent of New York residents are also vulnerable because they’re not using automatically generated passwords. Instead, many New Yorkers are using the same password across multiple accounts. Additionally, password managers are being used to store passwords by a good majority of New Yorkers rather than manually typing in passwords each time. Using a password manager makes it easy for hackers to figure out how to get your information.

READ MORE: How to Spot a PayPal Phishing Scam

Why Are Public and Free Wifi Networks Unsafe?

Another big thing that New Yorkers are doing that leaves them vulnerable I that they’re using free and unsecured networks when in public, leaving themselves open to having their information compromised. According to Kaspersky, the biggest threat is that a hacker can weasel in between you and the connection point,  "So instead of talking directly with the hotspot, you're sending your information to the hacker, who then relays it on."

How to Protect Yourself From Being Digitally Vulnerable

If you want to protect yourself from being digitally vulnerable, remember to use a different password for different accounts rather than the same one for all accounts. Also, avoid clicking on any advertisement, link, or attachment unless you can verify its origin or sender.

SEE ALSO: The New York Speeding Ticket Email Scam + How to Protect Yourself

Back up your device and save important information to the cloud because if you don’t and you become compromised, you may never be able to retrieve your information. And, always be careful when connecting to free or public Wi-Fi. Avoid using both if at all possible.