A significant number of young people aged 15 to 25 estimate that they have committed a cybercriminal act in the past year, according to a study commissioned by the Finnish police.
In terms of the Finnish population, as many as 28.000 young people may commit cybercrime each year, said police in a press release on Tuesday referring to the study.
The study conducted by Taloustutkimus mapped the behavior of young people online, their attitudes towards operating in the online environment, and their experiences and participation in cyber-dependent crimes, such as data breach, denial-of-service-attacks or distributing malware.
The study showed that encountering harmful activity and being lured into criminal activities are everyday occurrences for young people.
About half of the young people responding to the survey disclosed that they have encountered harmful or suspicious activities online within the 12-month review period.
In terms of the Finnish population, an estimated 90.000 youngsters have been the target of a data breach.
One in four young people have encountered requests to participate in activities online, that the young person suspected to be harmful or criminal, or that were later revealed to be criminal.
The nationally representative, population-based study mapped online behavior of 15 to 25-year-olds living in Finland between August 2024 and August 2025 and 1065 young people responded to the online survey.
The Finnish police is publishing a guide for guardians and professionals, such as teachers and youth workers. The guide aims to help educators identify youth cybercrime as a phenomenon and to discuss the topic with youngsters.
“The guide was created in response to requests from stakeholders for an easy-to-use resource on how to prevent cybercrime among young people. Additionally, the goal is to support learning responsible online behavior with the youngster,” said project lead Viivi Lehtinen of the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
- Youth
- Cybercrime
- Finland
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
