Freelancer Cybersecurity Survey 2026

freelancer cybersecurity survey

Why we’re running this freelancer cybersecurity survey

This freelancer cybersecurity survey is SafeStackPro’s first attempt at original research — not another roundup of other outlets’ statistics, but a small, honest look at how freelancers and solo professionals actually handle digital security day to day. It takes about 2 minutes to complete.

Most cybersecurity coverage aimed at freelancers is written from the outside: vendors describing best practices, or large consumer surveys that lump freelancers in with the general public. We wanted something narrower and more specific — real answers from people who run their own business, juggle client data with no IT department behind them, and make security decisions alone. That’s the gap this freelancer cybersecurity survey is trying to fill — the independent U.S. workforce reached 72.9 million freelancers in 2025, yet most security research still treats them as an afterthought inside general consumer surveys.

We’re asking about the basics that actually matter day to day: whether you use a VPN on public Wi-Fi, whether you rely on a password manager or just try to remember everything, whether two-factor authentication is switched on where it counts, and what you actually spend on security tools each month — if anything. We’re also asking what worries you most, because the gap between what people are told to worry about and what they actually worry about is often the more interesting story.

This is a small, self-selected survey, not a scientific study. We’ll publish results with the exact sample size and its limitations clearly stated — no claim that these answers represent all freelancers everywhere. Your response is anonymous unless you choose to share your email below.

What happens with your answers

Responses are stored privately on SafeStackPro’s own systems, not shared with any third party, and used only to compile aggregate, anonymized results for a published article — individual answers are never published or attributed. If you leave your email, we’ll use it only to send you the finished report; nothing else. You can read more about how we handle sourcing and evidence on our methodology page.

The questions

1. What’s your work situation?
2. Do you use a VPN when working from public Wi-Fi (cafes, coworking, airports)?
3. Do you use a dedicated password manager?
4. In the past 12 months, have you had a security incident (account breach, malware, phishing you fell for, etc.)?
5. Do you use two-factor authentication (2FA) on your most important accounts (email, banking, client platforms)?
6. How much do you spend monthly on security tools total (VPN + password manager + antivirus, combined)?
7. What’s your biggest security worry as a freelancer?
8. Where are you based? (optional, for regional context)
Email (optional — only if you want us to send you the published results)

Responses are stored privately and used only to compile aggregate, anonymized results for a published article. See our methodology.