Langley is a hotbed for cybercrime, placing this town in the top five worst cities in Canada for potential attacks online, say Norton, anti-virus computer company.
A study by Norton and research firm Sperling's BestPlaces uncovered that residents of Langley like being online, usually via a wireless device, whether it be for checking Facebook, Tweeting, banking or online shopping.
For the second year, Norton and Sperling's BestPlaces listed Canada's top 10 cities that have the highest number of cybercrime risk factors.
Langley placed fourth, behind Port Coquitlam at the number two spot and Vancouver placing third. Burlington, ON, took first place.
Sperling's BestPlaces determined the per-capita rankings by examining several consumer behaviors - from the prevalence of PCs and smartphones, to social networking and accessing potentially unsecured Wi-Fi hotspots, among other factors.
According to the research, Langley, ranked above average across all categories.
"As we look at the top 10, we are looking at affluent cities where people are computing a lot," explains Lynn Hargrove, Symantec's director of consumer solutions. "Certainly criminals want to go where the money is. We are seeing an absolute increase in things like identity theft."
"We are seeing things like 'evil-twinning' networks," warns Hargrove. "Criminals will try to create a network very similar to the one you think you are attaching to. Make sure you attach to the right one."
One of the simplest ways to boost your online security is changing or improving your passwords.
For the second time, leading "riskiest" online city, Burlington, placed high in all four categories measuring cybercrime data per capita, including attempted malware infections, attempted web attacks, attempted spamming and attempted bots by city. Burlington also ranked high amongst internet use and expenditures. Port Coquitlam scored at the top in the majority of the categories surveyed, including cybercrime data per capita. Both Port Coquitlam and Vancouver (which ranked third), reported high numbers of social networking use. Residents of Victoria, which came in as Canada's 10th "riskiest" online city, ranked highest among Wi-Fi hotspots and Fredericton, which ranked sixth overall, had the highest use of social networking.
The Top 10 Riskiest Online Cities in Canada are:
No. 1 - Burlington, ON
No. 2 - Port Coquitlam, BC
No. 3 - Vancouver, BC
No. 4 - Langley, BC
No. 5 - Calgary, AB
No. 6 - Fredericton, NB
No. 7 - Toronto, ON
No. 8 - New Westminster, BC
No. 9 - Edmonton, AB
No. 10 - Victoria, BC