Majority Of Computer Users Ignorant of Security & Privacy Settings

In spite of news reports about cyber criminals hacking e-mails and stealing personal data, numerous users are unaware about the security settings already present on their computers, revealed a survey released on September 24, 2008.

The study carried out by Steganos, the specialist in data security software, discovered that disturbingly, high percentage of people were unaware of the security applications operating on their PCs to ensure sufficient security from hackers, malicious software, computer viruses, and other online risks. The study was carried out in July 2008 amongst people using laptops and desktop computers in the US and UK.

Also, over one-tenth of the respondents (13%) confirmed that they did not load any anti-virus application on their PCs, even as another 9% were not aware of any anti-virus software being deployed. About one-fifth of the responders (19%) were not aware whether their PCs had any firewalls.

Furthermore, 60% of the respondents did not install any privacy application on their machines, while 25% users were unsure of its existence on their PCs. Plus, when inquired about the type of privacy settings available on their Web browser, around 52% acknowledged their ignorance. In addition to this, around 46% of the responders asserted that they had sufficient security to protect their online information and other details.

Steganos' Managing Director, Michael Marzy, stated that in view of the disturbing number of risks confronting users nowadays, the outcomes of the study were appalling. The fact that users were not aware of the applications they utilizing, clearly indicated that as an industry it was necessary to continuously educate consumers, as reported by solutions on September 23, 2008.

Nevertheless, the study also revealed that a few of the users were aware of the online threats and had fixed anti-spam, antivirus, firewall, and privacy application. Several consumers were also utilizing encryption program, mentioned the study. Encryption program confirmed that if anybody hacked a consumer's PC- either through fraudulent methods like stealing, or harmless methods like sharing a home PC or laptop, all files or data the consumer wanted to be personal were encrypted and secured.

Related article: Majority of Internet-linked PCs Unsafe, Says Secunia

» SPAMfighter News - 30-09-2008

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