{"id":104457,"date":"2020-08-12T06:46:29","date_gmt":"2020-08-12T13:46:29","guid":{"rendered":"\/blogs\/?p=104457"},"modified":"2025-08-20T05:22:49","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T12:22:49","slug":"what-security-means-to-elders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/family-safety\/what-security-means-to-elders\/","title":{"rendered":"What Security Means to Elders"},"content":{"rendered":"

What Security Means to Elders<\/h2>\n

Recently, we conducted a survey of 600 families and professionals in the U.S. to better understand what matters to them\u2014in terms of security and the lives they want to lead online. The following article reflects what they shared with us, and allows us to share it with you in turn, with the aim of helping you and your family stay safer and more secure. 1<\/sup><\/em><\/p>\n

Findings from Pew Research Center show that internet usage by elders has risen from an average of 14% in 2000 to 67% on average 2017<\/a>. As these numbers continue to rise, we wanted to find out what was important to them\u2014particularly as more and more of their lives go online.<\/p>\n

While many of us take shopping, surfing, and banking online for granted, they mark a dramatic shift for elders. They\u2019ve gone from the days when banking meant banker\u2019s hours and paper passbook to around-the-clock banking and a mobile app. And even if they use the internet sparingly, banking, finances, and commerce have gone digital.<\/a> Their information is out there, and it needs to be protected.<\/p>\n

The good news is, elders are motivated.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s on the minds of elders when it comes to their security?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Most broadly, this sentiment captures it well: Technology may be new to me, but I still want to be informed and involved<\/em>. For example, elders told us that they absolutely want to know if something is broken\u2014and if so, how to fix it as easily as possible. In all, they\u2019re motivated to get smart on the topic of security, get educated on how to tackle risks, and gain confidence that they go about their time on the internet safely. Areas of interest they had were:<\/p>\n

Identity protection:<\/strong> This covers a few things\u2014one, it\u2019s monitoring your identity to spot any initial suspicious activity on your personal and financial accounts before it becomes an even larger one; and two, it\u2019s support and tools for recovery in the even your identity is stolen by a crook. (For more on identity theft, check out this blog<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Social Security monitoring:<\/strong>\u00a0 Government benefits are very much on the mind of elders, particularly as numerous agencies increasingly direct people to use online services to manage and claim those benefits. Of course, hackers and crooks have noticed. In the U.S., for example, Social Security identified nearly 63,000 likely fraudulent online benefit applications<\/a> in fiscal 2018, according to the agency\u2019s Office of the Inspector General, up from just 89 in fiscal 2015.<\/p>\n

Scam prevention:<\/strong> An article from Protect Seniors Online cities some useful insights from the National Cyber Security Alliance and the Better Business Bureau. According to them there are five top scams in the U.S. that tend to prey on older adults<\/a>.<\/p>\n