Canadians Dropped in the World in Terms of Cybersecurity Knowledge

Canadians are 6th in the world in terms of cybersecurity and internet privacy knowledge, According to new research by the cybersecurity company NordVPN. Last year Canadians ranked 4th globally.

“Technological advancements might be overwhelming for some people, which may make them struggle to keep up. Convenience-driven online applications become more ingrained in our daily lives, and people often prioritize ease of use over privacy, unintentionally exposing themselves to risks. Even though it's concerning to see a decline in global internet privacy awareness, this trend only confirms the growing need for more education in protecting our personal data online,” says Marijus Briedis, chief technology officer (CTO) at NordVPN.

The results of the test showed that Canadians are good at creating strong passwords (96%), and dealing with suspicious streaming service offers (95%). They also know how devices might get infected with malware (92%) and which sensitive data to avoid sharing on social media (90%), or which permissions should be granted to different apps (89%). 

However, only 4% of Canadians are knowledgeable about what privacy issues to consider when using AI for work, and only 12% know what data ISPs collect as part of the metadata. Additionally, Canadians are mostly unaware (13%) of how to secure their home Wi-Fi network, most likely considering it safe by default. Finally, only 15% of Canadians know where to store passwords safely, for example, in tools like password managers.

Compared to 2023, less Canadians understand the security benefits of updating apps as soon as the update is available. While in 2023, 62% said they update an app as soon as an update is available, this year, it’s 52%. However, more Canadians are aware of how cybercriminals make fake URLs look legitimate (39% in 2023 vs. 49% in 2024).

According to the National Privacy Test, Singapore ranks first (62/100) among all countries, while Finland and Lithuania (61/100) share the second place, and Germany and The United States stand third (60/100). However, this year's results showed that the world's online privacy and cybersecurity awareness have continued declining over the last few years. This year, the total global score of the National Privacy Test was 58 points out of 100, compared to 61 last year.

Methodology: The National Privacy Test is an open-access survey, allowing anyone from around the world to take the test and compare their own results with the global ones. In 2024, 25,567 respondents from 181 countries answered 23 questions that evaluated their online privacy skills and knowledge. The 2024 data is analyzed as of 07/17/2023 and presented in the report. If there is a difference with the webpage results, it means more people participated since July 17 and the result has slightly changed. Additionally, the analysis of 2023 takes into consideration the full 2023 data. Last year’s communication analyzed only the interim results up to July 19, 2023.

ABOUT NORDVPN

NordVPN is the world’s most advanced VPN service provider, chosen by millions of internet users worldwide. The service offers features such as dedicated IP, Double VPN, and Onion Over VPN servers, which help to boost your online privacy with zero tracking. One of NordVPN’s key features is Threat Protection Pro, a tool that blocks malicious websites, trackers, and ads and scans downloads for malware. The latest creation of Nord Security, NordVPN’s parent company, is Saily — a global eSIM service. NordVPN is known for being user friendly and can offer some of the best prices on the market. This VPN provider has over 6,400 servers covering 111 countries worldwide. For more information, visit  https://nordvpn.com.