When a major brand or piece of critical national infrastructure suffers a cyberattack, it makes national headlines.
Governments convene, regulators act, and the cybersecurity industry mobilises. But when individuals fall victim to online fraud, digital abuse or other cyber harms, the response is often fragmented, slow and inadequate.
Experts from the World Economic Forum (WEF) say this growing gap highlights the need for governments and regulators to adopt a citizens’ cyberattack framework that places individuals at the centre of national cybersecurity strategies.
The experts argue that while it is understandable for countries to prioritise attacks targeting businesses, governments and critical infrastructure, cyber threats against individuals are occurring on a massive scale and pose a long-term risk to public trust in digital systems.
They warn that as economies and public services increasingly move online, failure to protect citizens from cybercrime could undermine confidence in digital platforms and services.
“Attacks against individuals are not simply smaller versions of attacks against organisations, they are categorically different,” the WEF report states.
Unlike corporate cyberattacks, which often exploit technical vulnerabilities, attacks targeting individuals frequently rely on psychological manipulation, including deception, trust exploitation and emotional abuse.
The experts say a dedicated citizens’ cyberattack framework would help governments, law enforcement agencies and technology platforms better understand how cyberattacks against individuals occur, classify online harms, map attacker tactics, identify emerging threats and develop evidence-based responses.
The framework would also guide prevention measures, support public awareness programmes, strengthen victim support systems and encourage technology companies to integrate stronger security protections into digital products.
Currently, according to the findings, information on attacks targeting individuals remains scattered across banks, researchers, law enforcement agencies, victim support organisations and online platforms, making it difficult to measure the true scale of the problem or design effective interventions.
The experts point to challenges in several countries where cybercrime reporting and response gaps have highlighted the need for stronger systems to support victims and improve accountability.
They further argue that such challenges reflect a broader global issue, where cybercrime has evolved faster than traditional response mechanisms.
"Attack frameworks have transformed how the cybersecurity industry understands and defends against adversaries. It is time we did the same for individuals,” the report adds.
With artificial intelligence enabling more sophisticated cyber threats, the experts say governments must move beyond protecting systems alone and develop policies that safeguard the people increasingly dependent on them.
They argue that placing citizens within cybersecurity planning will be critical to maintaining trust as digital services continue to expand.
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