Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1213458
12 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 23 FEBRUARY 2020 NEWS JAMES DEBONO NEARLY 10% of Maltese inter- net users have been asked for payment to get back control of their device at least once in the past three years – compared to just 1% of respondents in all EU member states. Half of the Maltese victims of this cybercrime reported being asked for such illicit payments more than once. This emerges from a Euro- barometer survey, which also shows a higher rate of virus and malware exposure amongst the Maltese. While only 16% of re- spondents in all EU 28 member states had discovered malicious software on their device the per- centage raises to 28% in Malta. Ransomware is a type of mal- ware that demands money with menaces: by taking control of your PC, demanding payments to get it back. Immediately dis- connecting your PC from the Internet, reformatting the hard drive, and reinstalling everything from a backup can defeat most ransomware. The problem can be resolved by clicking the "Re- store factory settings" option. 36% of Maltese respondents have received fraudulent emails or phone calls asking them for their personal details. 16% expe- rienced this kind of fraud more than three times in as many years. 8% have also reported being victims of online banking fraud compared to just 2% of respond- ents in all EU member states. 7% of Maltese respondents in the survey have reported a cy- bercrime to the police, accord- ing to the Europe-wide survey. The same survey shows that 4% of respondents in all EU member states did likewise. The survey also shows that 45% of Maltese internet users have installed anti-virus software compared to 42% of respondents in all member states. 42% of the Maltese only use their own com- puter compared to only 32% of all European respondents. Profile of online users The survey shows that Malta has one of the highest percent- ages of people not connected to the Internet. Greece and Malta (both 8%), Portugal (7%) and Bulgaria (6%) are the only countries where more than one in twenty say they do not use the internet. A further 17% of the Maltese do not use the internet, 3% do so often or sometimes and 72% do so on a daily basis. The most avid internet users in Europe are the Dutch, 96% of whom use in- ternet on a daily basis. On the opposite end only 61% of Roma- nians use the internet daily. The survey also shows a 7-point increase in the percent- age of Maltese who accessed the internet with a smartphone over 2018. The percentage of Maltese who access the internet through their phone has now reached 85%. The percentage of those who access the internet through their personal computer has de- creased by three points, from 75% in 2018 to 72% now. 49% access the internet from their tablet, 18% from their TV and 8% from their game console. The survey shows that the Mal- tese are more likely to use the in- ternet to assess social networks and instant messaging than oth- er Europeans but are less likely to use it for banking services or for e-commerce. jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt 8% of Maltese internet users have been infected by ransomware 'Hands off referenda', NGOs warn TWELVE civil society NGOs joined BirdLife Malta in slam- ming the hunting lobby's call on the President to abolish the citi- zens' right to demand an abroga- tive referendum. The NGOs said such a demand is "undemocratic" and that the right to demand a referendum should not be hindered in any form. Hunting lobby FKNK claims the right to invoke an abrogative ref- erendum should be abolished for the sake of "protecting the legal rights of minority groups." "The proposal by the hunting lobby to prevent the calling of an abrogative referendum in Mal- ta and to curtail the power of voters to demand a referendum is undemocratic and impinges negatively on citizens' rights in a democratic society," BirdLife said yesterday. The FKNK has collected a pe- tition signed by 104,000 people to demand an end to the right to call for an abrogative referendum by collecting signatures of 10% of the electorate. "The issue here is not solely about a small section of society that enjoys killing and trapping birds but it is also about the rest of society that is having their natural resources abused of. Our country needs to safeguard the democrat- ic right of citizens to participate in diverse ways in the legislative process. Limiting one of the few avenues for citizen participation would be an affront to democ- racy, regardless of the particular issue at hand," BirdLife said. The NGOs called on the Pres- ident and the Prime Minister to keep the country's democratic mechanisms intact "to ensure Malta's legislation is not in any way tampered with to appease this undemocratic request." The NGOs are BirdLife, Din l-Art Ħelwa, Nature Trust, Friends of the Earth, Moviment Graffitti, Futur Ambjent Wieħed, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Isles of the Left, Ramblers' Asso- ciation, The Archaeological So- ciety Malta, Wirt Għawdex, Adi- tus, and Malta LGBTIQ Rights Movement (MGRM). Have you been a victim of the following situations? Malta EU28 Received fraudulent emails or phone calls 36% 31% Discovered a virus on device 28% 16% Had social media account or email hacked 11% 7% Asked for payment to get back control of device 8% 1% Was a victim of bank card or online banking fraud 8% 2% Impersonated by someone who stole personal data 6% 4% Accidentally encountered child abuse material 5% 3% Online activities in which respondents engaged in past 12 months Malta EU28 Email 70% 80% Social networks 74% 62% Read news 58% 62% Bank online 52% 61% Buying goods 50% 55% Instant messaging 56% 51% Entertainment 47% 40% Assessing public services 37% 36% Gaming 31% 25% Sell goods 18% 22%