SINGAPORE - A nationwide study by the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) has found that while nearly half of its respondents had experienced a cyber-security incident and that awareness of its dangers are high, some are complacent.

In the release of the third edition of the annual Cybersecurity Public Awareness Survey on Wednesday (Sept 11), CSA said 48 per cent of the 1,105 respondents had experienced at least one cyber incident in 2018.

The agency added that more than a third of the respondents reported encountering advertisement pop-ups online, which can be a sign of malicious software infection.

This was the most commonly cited security incident, followed by having their data leaked by a company, which about 15 per cent of respondents experienced.

Other types of cyber incidents included receiving a phishing e-mail, being infected by ransomware and having their computer or device controlled by hackers illegally.

The latest survey was the first time CSA measured the types and frequency of cyber-security incidents its respondents encountered.

When compared with results released last year (2018), there have been some improvements.

The survey found that in 2018, 36 per cent of Singaporeans enabled Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) for their online accounts. This is 10 percentage points more than in 2017.

2FA provides an additional layer of security by requiring users to key in a code that is either sent to their mobile phones or generated by a token.

Still, CSA said the adoption of some cyber-security practices "needs to be improved", highlighting how there have been decreases in their take-up rate.

The survey found that there has been a decrease in the proportion of respondents who had updated the software of their mobile devices.

Mobile software manufacturers usually roll out stronger cyber defences in these updates.

According to CSA, 80 per cent of the respondents updated their software in 2018, down from 83 per cent in 2017.

Additionally, out of those who installed software updates or updated their phones , only half did so immediately when the update became available, compared to 55 per cent in 2017.

The proportion of respondents who had installed security applications in their mobile devices fell as well, from 53 per cent in 2017 to 45 per cent in 2018.

CSA pointed out that this was despite the fact that there was a larger proportion of respondents who acknowledged the risks of not installing security applications and knowing which ones to use and download.

The majority of the respondents, at least seven out of ten, showed high levels of concerns about a variety of cyber security incidents, like having their computer controlled by hackers illegally, having their information stolen or falling victim to an online scam or fraud.

But at the same time, less than half of all respondents felt like they would be hit with such a cyber-security incident.

CSA's chief executive David Koh pointed this out, adding: "The survey shows that while Singaporeans are concerned about cyber threats and agree that they have a role to play, most believe that they are not the target of cyber criminals.

"Cyber threats are part and parcel of the digital age, and cyber attacks will only increase. No one is immune.

"We need to improve our cyber hygiene so that we do not lose our hard-earned money and our precious data to cyber criminals."