Sources
Sources and references
We only use statistics we can trace to a published source, and we show you where they come from. Numbers change when new research is published, so we re-check every link each month and review each figure at least once a year.
If a link has moved, or you cannot find a figure, search for the publisher and report title. It is a good habit to look up a statistic for yourself before you share it, and it is exactly what the course teaches.
Statistics
Every number we show students and visitors, where it comes from, and where it is used. Figures were last checked on 2026-10-04.
| Figure | What it measures | Source | Where we use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 in 5 (19.1%) | Children aged 10 to 15 in England and Wales who experienced an online bullying behaviour in the last year | Office for National Statistics, Bullying and online experiences among children in England and Wales: year ending March 2023 (2024) | Module 1 intro; homepage |
| 18% | Children who experienced online bullying and told no one (18.1%) | Office for National Statistics, Bullying and online experiences among children in England and Wales: year ending March 2023 (2024) | Module 1 intro; homepage |
| 23.2 million | Hacked accounts worldwide that used the password 123456 | National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), Most hacked passwords revealed as UK cyber survey exposes gaps in online security (2019) | Module 2 intro |
| 22% | Data breaches that began with stolen login details (credential abuse), the most common way in | Verizon, 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report (2025) | Module 2 intro |
| 35% | Children aged 10 to 15 who accepted a friend request from someone they did not know in the last year | Office for National Statistics, Bullying and online experiences among children in England and Wales: year ending March 2023 (2024) | Module 4 intro |
| 55% | Children who report receiving direct messages from people they have never spoken to | Ofcom, Understanding online communications among children (2026) (2026) | Module 4 intro |
| £1.28bn | Stolen through payment fraud in the UK in 2025 | UK Finance, Annual Fraud Report 2026 (2026) | Module 5 intro |
| 85% | UK businesses that had a cyber breach or attack in the last year and experienced phishing | Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), Cyber security breaches survey 2025/2026 (2026) | Module 5 intro |
| 38% | All UK businesses that reported phishing attacks in the last year | Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), Cyber security breaches survey 2025/2026 (2026) | Module 5 intro |
| 59% | Links shared on Twitter that the person sharing them had never clicked (2016 study) | Gabielkov, Ramachandran, Chaintreau and Legout, ACM SIGMETRICS, Social Clicks: What and Who Gets Read on Twitter? (2016) | Module 6 intro |
| 6x | Time true news took, compared with false news, to reach 1,500 people on Twitter | Vosoughi, Roy and Aral, Science, The spread of true and false news online (2018) | Module 6 intro |
| 3 in 10 | 12 to 17-year-olds in the UK who do not know how to spot a fake social media profile | Ofcom, Children and parents: media use and attitudes report 2025 (2025) | Module 6 intro |
| about 3 hours | Average time online each day for 8 to 14-year-olds; time online almost doubles by ages 15 to 17 | Ofcom, Children and parents: media use and attitudes report (2026) (2026) | Module 7 intro; homepage |
| 37% | 8 to 17-year-olds who say their screen time is too high | Ofcom, Children and parents: media use and attitudes report (2026) (2026) | Module 7 intro |
| 70% | 8 to 17-year-olds who use social media or messaging apps and feel pressure to be popular online at least sometimes | Ofcom, Children and parents: media use and attitudes report (2026) (2026) | Module 7 intro |
The law, guidance and where to get help
- Safeguarding guidance for schools: Keeping children safe in education, Department for Education
- Platforms' legal duties to protect children: Online Safety Act 2023, legislation.gov.uk
- Upskirting is a criminal offence: Voyeurism (Offences) Act 2019, legislation.gov.uk
- Support for children: Childline, NSPCC
- Getting a nude image taken down: Report Remove, Childline and the Internet Watch Foundation
- Reporting online grooming: CEOP Safety Centre, National Crime Agency
- Reporting scams and phishing: Phishing and scam reporting, National Cyber Security Centre
- Reporting fraud: Action Fraud, City of London Police