Pornography websites are less likely to infect internet users' computers with viruses than illegally-downloaded music, security firm Norton says.
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The anti-virus software giant yesterday released a global snapshot of cybercrime, which shows 67 per cent of Australians report having been a victim of cybercrime in their lifetime.
Norton defines cybercrime broadly; including common experiences such as being sent embedded links on their smartphones, or being sent unsolicited links on social media.
Its report shows the rise of social media is producing a rise in the number of people experiencing unwanted approaches or attacks online.
Norton chief cybersecurity advisor, Adam Palmer, said young men aged 18-34 were the most likely to fall victim to cybercrime.
"They’re more likely to spend the most time online and engage in risky behaviour," he said.
But this did not include online sexual advances. Pornography sites were generally free of viruses, because their operators wanted users to return and keep spending money.
Instead, the sites most likely to carry viruses and malware were pirating or illegal file share websites, and religious websites.
"Going to church websites is more risky than going to pornography websites."
Social media scams are rising steadily, with the number of people being sent a fake link on social media platforms rising from 3 per cent in 2011 to 10 per cent this year. And the percentage of mobile phone users who received a text message from a stranger asking they click on an embedded link or dial an unknown number rose from 7 per cent last year to 22 per cent this year.
Market research company StrategyOne surveyed 13,000 people in 24 countries for the Norton study.
They found one and a half million people fell victim to some form of cybercrime daily, which cost $US110billion annually.
In Australia, the net cost of cybercrime was $1.65billion a year (US $US1.7bn), and the average cost to victims was $306.
The study found many people remained ignorant about how to protect themselves online, with 20 per cent of surveyed Australians agreeing they "don’t understand the risk of cybercrime or how to protect themselves online".
A further 18 per cent forwarded links without checking them first, and 46 per cent agreed that unless their computer crashes or goes slow, it was hard to know if they had been a victim of cybercrime.
Norton advised users to use strong passwords and change them frequently.
