A new report on cybercrime shows people in New Zealand lost more than $620 million to online crime in the past 12 months.
The report by Norton Symantec, an internet security company, found the annual global cost of cybercrime to be $470 billion.
In New Zealand, almost three-quarters of online users experienced computer viruses, social network profile hacking or online scams in the past 12 months.
But only 23% of people had up-to-date security software.
Symantec says internet users can be easily protected by ensuring their security software is up-to-date.
The report also found New Zealanders recover quicker from cybercrimes, compared with the rest of the world. On average, people in New Zealand take four days to recover, compared to a global average of 10 days.
The company says a big threat for the future will be mobile cybercrime.
