Only 6% of French people know what "quishing" is, one month to better warn about online scams

Cybermonth returns for its 13th edition, dedicated to alerting and raising awareness among citizens about online security. Several risks are still largely unknown.

Impersonating a loved one to get money from you, emails asking you to pay an imaginary fine, text messages from a fake bank advisor, messages from a fake delivery person asking if you're home... Online scam attempts are on the rise. This year again, Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr, a public interest group attached to the government, is organizing a new edition of Cybermois .

For this 13th edition, linked to European Cybersecurity Month, the aim is still to alert and raise awareness among the population about online risks, as 60% of French people say they have been confronted with a phishing attempt in the past year, 30% with a breach of their personal data and 15% with a fake bank advisor.

Ahead of the event, which will run throughout October, Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr has partnered with the Ipsos polling institute to assess the threat landscape and the general public's knowledge of cybersecurity. According to the barometer on the French people's perception of online security *, 58% of respondents believe they are sufficiently informed about internet risks, and 33% consider themselves to have a good level of knowledge in this area. The habit of checking before making an online purchase is on the rise, with 68% of respondents reporting that they are vigilant during this type of transaction. However, many gaps remain.

For a better understanding of threats

While some terms like "virus" or "hacking" seem well-known to a majority of French people, there are still some types of scams that remain quite vague for many of them. Some terms related to cybersecurity also remain relatively unknown. While 80% of those surveyed admit to being familiar with the term "spam," only 15% are familiar with "smishing," and only 6% can explain what "quishing" is.

The first is SMS scams, which are on the rise this year. "Quishing," on the other hand, refers to QR code phishing techniques. We already discussed this topic last year with the trend of fake code scams.

For this 13th edition of Cybermois, the teams at Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr are launching a new awareness campaign, online as well as in various institutions and press outlets. This campaign, entitled " Cyber ​​History ," aims to rewrite history in a humorous way, imagining that good online practices have prevented some memorable disasters. Among the few messages revealed at the press conference, we learn, for example, that "the Titanic would not have suffered such an icy end if its GPS had been updated."

In addition to this poster campaign, Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr is also organizing a nationwide awareness-raising tour of France. Throughout Cybermonth, regional events will be held in Rennes, Périgueux, Lille, Rouen, and Paris.

This CyberTour de France will include online security professionals and offer various activities, games, and quizzes to inform the public. This is a reminder that Cybermonth is not just a Parisian event, but an initiative that belongs to all French people.

Cybermonth, of which Linternaute.com is a partner, will take place from October 1 to 31, 2025. Information and prevention tools will be available on the official website .

*Study conducted via the Ipsos.Digital omnibus with a sample of 2,000 people, representative of the French population aged 18 to 75.