Vancouver is the third most vulnerable city in Canada for cyber-crime, according to a study released Wednesday.

A new study by Norton from Symantec and research firm Sperling’s BestPlaces lists the Top 10 “riskiest” online cities that are most vulnerable to identity theft.

The rankings were determined by combining Symantec’s data on cyber attacks and malware infections with consumer behaviours, including access to Wi-Fi hotspots, Internet use and computer-equipment expenditures.

Burlington, Ont., took the title of Canada’s cyber-crime capital, while Port Coquitlam and Langley are ranked second and fourth, respectively. New Westminster jumped to eighth place from the 16th spot and Victoria ranked 10th.

The study shows that Vancouver, which rose one spot in the rankings since the 2010 analysis, had the third-highest incidence of spamming IP addresses and the second-highest number of Wi-Fi hotspots per capita as well as high social-networking use.

According to Symantec, people who are more connected online are more vulnerable to cyber-criminals.

Better Business Bureau spokesperson Mark Fernandes said people shouldn’t just click on email links because it can install viruses on your computer and can target others in your contact list.

People should limit where they post their email addresses to reduce spam threats, review privacy policies of websites and never reply to spam emails, he added.

“They’re just trying to see if you’ll ... enter their game,” he said. “Once they know they have a live person that wants to engage with them, then they’ll know it’s a valid email address.”