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Users not doing enough to protect themselves online
(13-11-07) - A lack of internet security awareness is leaving millions open to online fraud and identity theft according to new research.
The Get Safe Online campaign said: “While people have become more vigilant when it comes to installing internet security software on their personal computers, what they actually do online is putting them at increased risk of internet-based crime.”
More than 7.8 million people admitted to leaving their wireless network unsecured and open to hackers, while almost one in four people use the same password for all websites - a figure that rises to 51 per cent for the over 65s.
The research also showed that as social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Friends Reunited become more popular - now with 10.8 million registered users - some worrying trends are developing.
One in four social networking users have posted confidential or personal information such as their phone number, address or email to a social networking site, though 15 per cent still do not apply any security settings - again rising to 51 per cent among over 65s.
Tony Neate, Get Safe Online managing director, said: “The popularity of social networking and other sites means that we are much more open about ourselves and our lives online. Although some of these details may seem harmless, they actually provide rich pickings for criminals. Your date of birth and where you live is enough for someone to set up a credit card in your name. So whilst most people wouldn’t give this information to a stranger in real life, they will happily post it online where people they don’t know can see it.”
Michael Phillips, BroadbandChoices.co.uk product director, added: “It’s worrying that although 88 per cent of broadband users have some form of internet security on their PC, many still leave themselves vulnerable to hackers, fraud and identity theft by not implementing other, very simple measures.
“Anyone using a wireless network must at the very least, have it secured with a password. Customers can use our free Wireless Key Generator to create a unique password that will be much harder to crack than their date of birth or pet’s name, and can even isolate their signal to make it invisible or set up an access list so that only specified computers can connect to their network,” he advised.
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