Tuesday, March 14, 2006

50% of AOL Users Don't Protect Their PC

A survey of AOL users in the UK shows that less than 50 percent of users deployed some kind of Internet security protection,whereas the rest do not mind leaving their computers exposed to attack and all types of malware.

In spite of this apparent lack of concern by a large number of users, the survey also revealed that 86 percent of users are informed and concerned about IT security.

However, not all of them were keen totranslate that to protecting solutions.

One in seven of those surveyed had never heard of phishing. This comes as a surprise, as AOL users are among the main target of phishing gangs.

The conclusions of the survey call for increased awareness of antivirus protection, content security and anti-phishing mechanisms, due to the new dynamic of malware focused on financial theft and cyber-crime.