NortonLifeLock (NASDAQ: NLOK), a global leader in consumer Cyber Safety, today released findings from its Online Creeping Survey, revealing that many Americans’ online creeping tactics are unwittingly veering into cyber stalking behavior: 46 percent of Americans admit to ‘stalking’ an ex or current partner online by checking in on them without their knowledge or consent.
Online creeping, or following someone persistently or stealthily online, is typically benign behavior. However, when that becomes a pattern of behavior or escalates to using the same technology and tactics to harass someone online, it’s cyber stalking. Cyber stalking can take on many forms, but the common denominator is that it is unwanted, obsessive and sometimes illegal.
Conducted in partnership with The Harris Poll, the NortonLifeLock Online Creeping Survey interviewed more than 2,000 U.S. adults to help determine when online creeping veers into cyber stalking. The results showed the most common forms of online stalking included checking their current or former partner’s phone (29 percent) and reviewing their partner’s search history on one of their devices (21 percent) without their knowledge or consent. Nearly one in ten Americans created a fake profile to check on them on social media (9 percent) or tracked their physical activity via their phone or health app (8 percent). Notably, 10 percent admitted to using an app to monitor an ex or current partner’s text messages, phone calls, direct messages, emails and photos, with men being 2.5 times more likely than women (15 percent vs. 6 percent) to engage in this behavior.
“Some of the behaviors identified in the NortonLifeLock Online Creeping Survey may seem harmless, but there are serious implications when this becomes a pattern of behavior and escalates, or when Stalkerware and creepware apps get in the hands of an abusive ex or partner,” says Kevin Roundy, Technical Director, NortonLifeLock. “These apps can be hard to detect as they hide in plain sight as apps with legitimate uses such as family locating. For instance, our researchers found an app that was flagged for abuse calling itself a “Girlfriend Tracker” that later relaunched and branded as a family GPS tracker.”
NortonLifeLock researchers take this threat seriously and have worked diligently to identify and report Stalkerware and creepware apps. Since 2017, they have identified more than 1,000 apps that could allow someone to ‘stalk’ current or former significant others, and Norton Mobile Security has detected roughly 1,250 infected mobile devices monthly.
Additional findings from the NortonLifeLock Online Creeping Survey include:
For more information, please visit the NortonLifeLock news room at https://www.nortonlifelock.com/about/newsroom.
About the NortonLifeLock Online Creeping Survey
This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of NortonLifeLock from December 18-20, 2019 among 2,050 U.S. adults ages 18 and older. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region, employment, marital status, household size and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.
About NortonLifeLock
NortonLifeLock Inc. (NASDAQ: NLOK) is a global leader in consumer Cyber Safety. NortonLifeLock is dedicated to helping secure the devices, identities, online privacy, and home and family needs of nearly 50 million consumers, providing them with a trusted ally in a complex digital world. For more information, please visit www.nortonlifelock.com.
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Jenna Torluemke
NortonLifeLock Inc.
(415) 767-7800
[email protected]
Christine Kim
Edelman for NortonLifeLock
(415) 712-3409
[email protected]