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STUDY: COMPUTER SECURITY NOT NEARLY AS GOOD AS SOME USERS THINK

Posted on July 18, 2011

Computer security isn't something that average consumers think a lot about. Many people think that they are visiting friendly sites and that these sites pose no risk. The reality according to a new study is that many people are using very bad behavior in protecting computers at home and in the office.

The survey was from G Data Software and surveyed 16,000 users globally with about 5,500 of those users inside America. According to the study 40% of the respondents inside the U.S. think that visiting an adult site is more risky than visiting a hobby site (for example, a site dedicated to horseback riding). According to G Data, however, hobby sites are more likely to have lax security compared to an adult site.

The report stated, "The level of awareness among Internet users is still inadequate and out-of-date in many respects."

The study found that almost all of the respondents in the U.S. think they would be able to recognize an attack. The respondents think the attack will cause their computer to crash or that popups will appear. The reality according to G Data is that most modern attacks are stealthy so they can remain unnoticed for longer periods of time.

The survey researchers wrote, "The aim of online criminals is to earn as much money as they can, which means that they want to keep infections hidden from users for as long as possible."

The survey also found that about 19% of those in the U.S. would access links to social networks regardless of where the link came from. Those users are classified as easy targets for cyber criminals. The study found that nearly 88% of U.S. participants use security software with about half using free versions. The most popular free security software in the U.S. is from Microsoft.

While most users have security software installed according to survey results, 28% of users don't update their virus definitions daily while 24% have no idea if they update definitions.

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