NetworkTigers discusses whether different generations have different perspectives on cyber security.
As the internet continues to shape society, each generation has its own relationship with privacy and cybersecurity and how critically it views data breaches and leaks. It may seem likely that older generations are most at risk from scams and hackers, but data shows that people of all ages grapple with security problems.
Despite the escalating frequency of data breaches and security incidents, major companies seem to have deprioritized publicly disclosing cybersecurity problems.
Arctic Wolf’s “The State of Cybersecurity: 2023 Trends” report states that 50% of organizations experienced a breach in the past year. However, 72% of those companies did not disclose the breach, and of the 28% that did, their announcements did not contain all the details about the incidents.
This lack of transparency may be due to companies not being required by law to report the breach, their reluctance to tarnish their reputation, or their desire not to increase business insurance.
Baby Boomers are uninformed
Generally, Baby Boomers born between 1946 and 1964 are the generation most concerned about online privacy. This is no surprise given that the internet was a late addition to their lives and continues to be a challenge for individuals who may have spent decades using pen and paper, balancing their checkbooks manually, and keeping hard copies of important documentation.
The fact that the Baby Boomers are poised to become the wealthiest generation in history, it stands to reason that the companies and institutions that serve them would take great pains to ensure that they feel confident and secure doing business with them.
The official response to a security incident sometimes manifests only as a newsletter buried in a website. Knowing this, it becomes apparent that a huge swath of Boomer clientele may never know their data has been compromised.
Most of the Baby Boomer generation gets their news from linear cable news programming and social media, particularly Facebook. These sources exist in an attention economy that favors sensationalism, controversy, and engagement in the form of comments, shares, and likes. Media platforms favor and monetize hot-button political issues, identity politics, and outrage over meaningful information. In this news environment, most IT-related corporate negligence incidents get little or no airtime.
This is especially true when the companies in question are sponsors of the networks that we have historically expected to hold them accountable through their journalism.
News of data breaches, even major ones, tends to get siloed into cybersecurity-focused websites or blogs that take note of filings companies quietly report to the government. The information does not reach an older audience or anyon who does not make an effort to understand data breaches as they happen.
Gen Z is apathetic
Gen Z are young people born between 1997 and 2012 who have grown up with access to the internet at their fingertips. They are decidedly more adept at navigating the online world than Baby Boomers. However, their comfort with the prevalence, availability, and acceptance of an always-online lifestyle has resulted in a lack of regard for cybersecurity. In the Gen Z world, life, learning, work, and socializing are all online, and notions of privacy appear to be skipping the Zoomer generation.
This young and healthy generation may find it hard to be interested in a health insurance company breach. It has no direct impact on them at this point in their lives. They have not started serious wealth generation and perhaps do not see themselves at risk.
That said, Gen Z has high victimization rates for phishing and employment scams. This may be the first generation to view the exposure risks inherent to the internet as a part of life, akin to the knowledge that when you drive an automobile, you accept the dangers associated with the open road.
Gen Z’s ambivalence to security issues sets the stage for even less disclosure in the coming years as companies move away from heartfelt PR campaigns crafted to communicate concern to dealing with security issues under the table.
Millennials perspectives on cybersecurity
Millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, matured with the internet and navigate the online and real world with equal ease. This familiarity can lead to lax attitudes toward security protocols and best practices.
Like Zoomers, millennials tend to have a large online footprint. This opens them to more risk than Boomers, with 27% of millennials surveyed by the National Cybersecurity Alliance losing money in online scams and 20% having their identities stolen at least once.
Millennials can spot a personalized cyberattack or scam. Like Gen Z, however, they feel powerless as they reach middle age and face the stark challenges associated with rising costs of living, a housing shortage, political threats, and unstable employment.
What are corporate perspectives on cybersecurity?
The 2016 RAND Corporation Consumer Attitudes Toward Data Breach Notifications and Loss of Personal Information survey revealed that only 11% of respondents would stop doing business with a company in the event of a breach.
For perspective, Boeing’s issues with quality control, coverups, and mechanical failures caused hundreds of deaths, but there has been no public boycott of their aircraft, and it does not seem to have impacted a $212 million contract the company signed with the US military. Boeing has a net worth of $107.42 billion as of June 18, 2024.
Facebook and Instagram company Meta received a $1.3 billion fine after Ireland’s Data Protection Commission found that it had violated privacy laws. It’s the biggest fine in history. Meta, however, is worth $1.266 trillion.
In 2024, Change Healthcare experienced a cyberattack that, according to testimony from parent company UnitedHealth’s CEO Andrew Witty, resulted in the theft of data belonging to “a substantial portion of people in America.” Change Healthcare is a giant, processing health insurance claims and billing for around 50% of the entire US population. Parent company UnitedHealth said that the total financial loss resulting from the cyberattack, which presumably includes the cost of operational disruption and the ransom paid to the hackers, came in at $870 million during the first quarter of 2024. UnitedHealth raked in nearly $100 billion in revenue during that same time period.
Some of the biggest companies in the world are the ones that people depend on or use the most, and even a significant compromise seems unlikely to affect them in a way that encourages transparency.
Government regulations are being put in place that address the timeframe and manner in which companies must report incidents to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fines for noncompliance can be daunting for small and medium-sized companies, but a cost of doing business for large companies, particularly Big tech companies.
What’s more, a study conducted by IBM reports that costs associated with a data breach are passed on to consumers, who are thus paying even more for their data being poorly protected.
Unless regulations that cause existential financial harm to major companies are put into place, the fines and legal repercussions associated with breaking laws or violating privacy policies will continue to fall under the cost of doing business. As breach fatigue waters down the perceived seriousness of cybersecurity incidents and government regulators seem unable to sharpen their teeth, companies are content to keep things quiet.
How can all generations protect themselves?
Regardless of corporate promises and efforts, individuals can take steps to protect their personal data by following basic cybersecurity best practices:
- Keep software and apps up to date.
- Put multi-factor authentication in place wherever possible.
- Do not reuse passwords and ensure the ones you use can’t be guessed.
- Be aware of phishing scams and phony messages.
- Avoid public wifi if possible.
- Limit the information you share on social media.
- Invest in a VPN or alternative to keep your browsing behavior private.
- Never click on links or attachments in unsolicited emails.
About NetworkTigers
NetworkTigers is the leader in the secondary market for Grade A, seller-refurbished networking equipment. Founded in January 1996 as Andover Consulting Group, which built and re-architected data centers for Fortune 500 firms, NetworkTigers provides consulting and network equipment to global governmental agencies, Fortune 2000, and healthcare companies. www.networktigers.com.
