Consumers Deluding Themselves When it Comes to Online Security

By Greg McNevin

October 3, 2007: According to a new survey conducted in the US by McAfee and the National Cyber Security Allance (NCSA), while consumers understand the risks of being online and believe themselves to be protected, the majority are actually dangerously vulnerable.

Called the McAfee/NCSA Online Safety Study and conducted by Kelton Research between August 22nd and September 10th, 2007, the report canvassed 378 consumers. Out of these, 87 percent believed they had anti-virus software, 73 percent thought they had a firewall and 70 percent believed they had anti-spyware software.

Awareness of risk was also found to be high, with 99 percent of respondents having heard of spyware and 75 percent of phishing.

However, echoing the report’s “Think Your Home Computer Is Safe? Think Again” opening line, this awareness is apparently disconnected from any solid protection efforts with 92 percent thinking their anti-virus software was up to date, but just 51 percent having received an updated DAT file within the past week.

Further to this, 73 percent think they have a firewall but only 64 percent have it enabled, 70 percent believe they have anti-spyware software installed opposed to barely half (55 percent) in reality and a mere 27 percent think they have anti-phishing software installed next to the 12 percent that actually do.

All up the report found that less than one in four Americans have full and updated protection against viruses and malware, and those older and wiser (over 45 years old) are more security conscious than the younger generations.

As for security breeches, 54 percent reported having had a virus on their computers, while 15 percent, unnervingly, weren’t sure one way or the other. What’s worse, nearly one in ten (9 percent) claimed to be a victim of online theft.

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