The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted businesses and individuals across the globe, including Australia.

However, a new study has found 70% of Australians rank cyberattacks as the primary threat to their country when asked about top global risks. They ranked coronavirus as the second biggest threat.

The new data was compiled by the US-based Atlas VPN team from 14 surveyed countries.

While both the South Korean and the US residents cited the spread of infectious diseases as the top-most threat, cyberattacks came in as the second most frequently mentioned major risk at 83% and 74% respectively.

From all 14 surveyed countries, cyberattacks are perceived as the fourth most serious risk globally at 65%, only behind global climate change (70%), the spread of infectious diseases (69%), and terrorism (66%).

In Denmark, 69% of respondents rated cyberattacks as their biggest threat, posing a greater danger than their second biggest risk – climate change.

Older people are more worried about security

Different generations perceive global threats differently, the report found.

Generally, the population of over 50-year-olds is more likely to name global threats, including cyberattacks, as major concerns.

In Australia, cyberattacks are considered a serious threat by 80% of those aged 50 and above and 52% of those aged 18 to 29.

In Denmark, 79% of those aged 50 and more believe that cyberattacks pose a substantial threat to their country, compared to only 43% of those aged 18 to 29.

Further, in the US, 83% of people above 50 years old believe cyberattacks pose a significant threat compared to 61% of 18 to 29-year-olds.

However, in South Korea, 30 to 49-year-olds expressed more concern over the cyberattack threat (88%) compared to 87% of Koreans aged above 50 and 65% of Koreans aged 18 to 29.

To view the full report click here