Your chances of becoming a cybervictim are about one in four -- slightly less than last year because a few problems appear to be easing, though significant threats remain.
Consumers are still falling prey to phishing scams, in which bogus e-mails and Web sites ask them to disclose information about their financial accounts.
The number who submitted personal information in such scams remained constant since last year, at about 8 percent of respondents.
About 38 percent of survey respondents reported a computer-virus infection in the past two years, and 34 percent reported a spyware infection in the past six months.
Based on projections from this survey, virus infections prompted 1.8 million households or businesses to replace their PCs in the past two years and spyware infections prompted another 850,000 to replace their machines in the past six months. Very few Mac users in the survey reported either infection type.
Defenses are still down. Seventeen percent of respondents didn't have antivirus software installed; 33 percent didn't use software to block or remove spyware. Although most small businesses Consumer Reports surveyed had installed a firewall, which keeps out hackers, Consumer Reports believes that 3.7 million small businesses with high speed internet access still lack this protection.
But while new initiatives may make the Internet a safer place in the coming years, much of the responsibility for secure use now falls upon consumers themselves. Here are some suggestions for how you can stay safe online:
1. Activate protection. If your operating system or software has a firewall, spam blocker or other built-in security application, make sure it's turned on, if it doesn't or if your not sure if you have software to protect you, send us a quick email and we can help you figure out how protected you are currently.
2. Update and renew. Set your operating system and security software to update automatically. Spam, spyware and virus-detection programs incorporate ''rules'' or ''definition'' files that must be updated regularly to catch the latest threats.
3. Avoid hyperlinks. Hyperlinks in an e-mail can show one address but take you to another. Before clicking on links in Web pages, hover your cursor over the URL and see whether the address that appears at the bottom of your browser looks as if it's related to a page or site you expect to visit.
4. For a simple route to broad protection online, consider a security suite that packages together programs to fight viruses, spyware and spam. Suites also add extra features such as phishing detection and child access filters.
Is your business prepared and well defended against spyware and virus threats?
Call The Technology Coach today for a no charge security evaluation and find out what you can do to protect yourself and your business!
No comments:
Post a Comment