According to a survey by US based software company CA, a quarter of Australian households do not have full internet security protection.
The survey, which was carried out by independent consultants Media3, was completed by 500 Windows users (and CA was not mentioned as being linked to the survey). It found that while 98 percent of households have anti-virus protection, 24 percent do not have full Internet security protection such as protection against spam, spyware and hackers.
The main reason consumers indicated they have computer security software is to protect themselves from viruses (80%), however only a small number of respondents indicated that spam (2%), spyware (16%) and hackers (8%) were of concern. Of the participants, 64 percent have installed a specific security application.
“With more than five and a half million households connected to the internet, and most (49%) households owning two or more computers, it’s imperative to have full online security,” said Patrina Kerr, director, Home and Small Office, CA Home and Small Office.
CA’s recommends the following tips for online safety:
Avoid visiting disreputable websites and do not use illegal or pirated software
Use strong (eg combination of letters and numbers) passwords to prevent Trojan attempts based on dictionary words
Purchase full internet security
Do not open suspicious email attachments or files. If in doubt, send a sample of the files to virus@ca.com
Keep your operating system (such as Windows) patched and up-to-date
Backup your files to CD/DVDs or another storage device on a regular basis to avoid loss of data should a security incident occur.
See: www.ca.com/au
