PC Tools – Women More Online Security Conscious than Men

According to a new survey conducted by security vendor 'PC Tools', more than one third of computer users do not update their security applications that include spam filters, antivirus and other security products. Besides, more than 50% of computer users neglect security alerts they receive, as reported by watchdog on June 18, 2009.

The survey also discloses that men are less savvy than women in terms of online security, which means when a man is using a computer, the chances of malware infiltration in the system increases.

PC Tools has discovered that around 47% of men using online banking services use the same passwords for online facilities whereas only 26% of women do the same. Men show more causal attitude towards e-mail attachment as 60% of them admitted of opening them instantly without checking their legitimacy while just 48% of women opened the attachments without complete scan. Moreover, men do not bother to check whether the website he is transacting on is legitimate or fake which implies that the possibilities of men falling to phishing scams are more compared to women.

However, PC Tools has revealed in its study that nearly 85% of men understand various types of security threats like social networking scams, dodgy e-mail attachments and website attacks. On the other hand, around 50% of women are unaware of the threats emanating from social networks. This implies that women are ignorant of the fact that they could be caught by phishing, e-mail scams and other kinds of malicious traps.

Dr. Michael Greene, Vice President of PC Tools, said that the study showed the gravity of problem on part of men who were quite complacent with regard to online security. If computer users applied commonsense and behavior-based protection apart from the existing antivirus while surfing online, they would effectively protect their personal and financial information, as reported by findmysoft on June 22, 2009.

After evaluating the study and its critical findings, PC Tools has advised users to change their attitude and become more abreast of online threats and the potential risks while using the Internet.

Related article: PC-Virus of 2005 Threatening Japanese Bank Accountholders, Warns Symantec

» SPAMfighter News - 6/29/2009