NEWARK, England, January 30 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent study on Cybercrime involving 1400 men and women in the UK has
revealed that in spite of a widespread awareness of Cybertheft (the majority
of people still expect to be a victim of some kind of cybercrime than
physical assault or robbery in the street) there is still a worrying level of
complacency towards the risks of cyber theft.
The report, commissioned by internet security vendor AVG, was designed to
provide an understanding of the differing behaviours and attitudes between
women and men when it comes to cybertheft. The research was carried out
online by Tickbox.net between 11-17 October 2007 amongst a nationally
representative sample of 1403 UK adults aged 16+ comprising 926 women and 477
men.
The survey unearthed some marked differences between the men and women in
the way they respond to the risk of cyber theft:
Men:
- Tend to believe they have cyber theft protection under control (only 4
percent are unsure what protection their computer has)
- Even so 1-in-5 say they have experienced fraudulent emails and
one-in-three have experienced some form of cybercrime
- Of those affected by cybercrime, only 18 percent change their internet
usage habits
- One in five men say they would feel stupid about being a victim of
Cyber Theft
- Forty percent of men feel more should be done to make people aware of
how to avoid Cyber Theft - right now you have to go looking for the
information
Women:
- Tend to be more cautious about the level of cyber protection they have
- Yet they continue to shop and do their banking over the internet as
much as the men do
- One marked area of difference is gambling over the Web - predominately
a male pastime with almost 30 percent admitting to gambling in this way
"Since instances of cyber theft are about the same for both sexes it
shows that women need to familiarize themselves more with internet security
so that they can use the Web with greater confidence," said Larry Bridwell,
global security strategist at AVG. "Men on the other hand need to be less
macho and think twice about whether they have really done enough to protect
themselves - especially when it comes to the amount of personal information
they supply when making purchases and financial transactions online."
AVG urges everyone to follow safe Internet practices:
- Never use an unfamiliar PC or laptop for transactions of a personal
nature
- Only use industry-recognised Internet payment systems and always check
for the padlock symbol on the screen.
- Be aware that email clients and web browsers, because they
are widely used for communication, are more susceptible to threats than
other applications unless used in conjunction with effective and
up-to-date security protection
- Be suspicious of email from people you do not know, and never
open or save attachments unless you know and trust the sender.
- Install, use, and keep updated comprehensive internet security
measures, including anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, and anti-exploit.
AVG Technologies, sponsor of the survey, offers a comprehensive range of
security products for individual and business use. Earlier this month, the
company released a public beta version of its latest product, AVG 8.0 for
Windows. This version introduces safe surfing and safe searching technologies
acquired through the recent purchase of Exploit Prevention Labs, which
protect users against accidental infection by poisoned websites, as well as
newly-combined anti-virus and anti-spyware engines. Integration of these new
functions has no impact on AVG's acclaimed small footprint, low impact on
computing resources, and scanning efficiency.
.gif)
