AFP – Australians Lack Awareness of Internet Security

An Australian Federal Police (AFP) officer has recently given a statement to bring in notice the lax attitude of home computer users in protecting their systems from viruses, hacking and other cyber crimes. He said that less than 50% of total home users actually protect their systems against these threats.

Neil Gaughan, AFP Commander, said that people often miss updating their security software which should be updated on a regular basis, as reported by smh.com.au on September 9, 2009. He further told that technology would keep on proposing several issues for the Australian Federal Police.

In addition, it has been found that a large number of Australians are ignoring to change their passwords and update their antivirus applications, thereby giving an open invitation to hackers.

Geeks2U, an Australian computer provider and technology support firm, has compiled data and concluded that PC users call support lines, with malware and viruses topping the list.

Computers infected by malware and viruses had a share of 27% of activities recorded by Geeks2U in June 2009. Requests to retrieve lost data followed the malware infected computers at 14%, while operating systems came next.

The security company highlighted that hacking using the social networking websites like Facebook has gone up because hackers are now more involved in the stealing of identities and money.

Besides, security researchers added that big Australian corporate houses had been a recent target of cyber espionage with a number of incidences coming into light. It is quite difficult to draw an estimation of the extent of cyber crime in Australia and even more difficult to nab perpetrators.

In the beginning of second week of September 2009, Telstra, the biggest telecom company in Australia, clarified that the planned broadband network would not give redemption from Internet access problems across the continent.

The federal government's plan of spending $43 Billion on network expansion is underway in Tasmania but the government remained mute on the issue of security risks that might emanate from the network expansion.

Finally, the Australian Federal Police have emphasized on the security of network in context of the National Broadband Network in view of rising cyber crime.

Gaughan informed parliamentary committee that there was a need of strong security and resilience, as reported by tradingroom.com on September 9, 2009.

Related article: APE Tool for Apple Patches, Is Flawed

» SPAMfighter News - 9/22/2009