3.1 Safe surfing: A brief look on internet security

Most internet users in the EU have not encountered any security related problem when being online. Among these internet users, 7 out of 10 have provided some kind of personal information over the internet. However, they also undertake a variety of different actions to control access to their personal information stored online.

Among EU businesses which use a computer, 32 % had a formally defined ICT security policy to safeguard data and infrastructure. Among those, the risk of destruction or corruption of data was the risk most commonly addressed.

3.2 Use of cloud services

Cloud computing allows internet users to store information or use software on a server run over the internet. The stored information can then be accessed on any device from any location as long as internet access is available.

In the EU in 2017, over one third of internet users used cloud services; the most frequent users were younger people aged 16 to 24 years.

Among EU businesses with internet access, 22 % purchased cloud computing services in 2016. This share was considerably higher for large businesses than for SMEs. The main purposes for buying these services were hosting e-mail systems and storing files electronically.