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Online security, a serious concern for Internet users
By siliconindia
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Monday, 13 June 2011, 21:37 IST
New Delhi: Microsoft Corporation India, has conducted one survey on online usage and security and according to their survey 50 percent of Indians online spend close to five hours on the internet daily.
The survey reflects that connecting with people online is their top favourite when it comes to internet usage as 40 percent people spend this time on social networking sites. Other key activities where the Indian internet users invest their time is research with 35 percent and entertainment with 22 percent.
The popularity of social networking also leads to the cyber threats associated with it 74 percent online users worry about the hacking of their social networking account as oppose to loss of their personal data, which accounts for just 16 percent and credit card fraud with a mere 5 percent. The survey hosted on Microsoft India's 'Windows and Me' Facebook page with more than 207,000 fans.
With regard to cyber crime, the survey unveils that nearly one fourth of Indians, over 23 percent have suffered as the victims of cyber attacks. The various kinds of cyber attacks include personal data loss tops the chart with 67 percent of people followed by 19 percent users witnessing email account hacking.
The large number of cyber attacks has also led to people becoming more aware about online security threats and thus realising the need for online security and anti-virus solutions. While the survey unveils that almost 90 percent Indians have an anti-virus installed on their PC, however, it is seen that majority of the users, 62 percent feel that their job is done once they install an anti-virus on their PC. This reflects that the Indian consumers are still are not completely aware of the repercussions of cyber attacks.
According to the survey, free anti-virus solutions are gaining the consumer's confidence, with over 70 percent respondents stating that they are moving towards the free anti-virus model. One such preferred antivirus offering is Microsoft Security Essentials - a free security solution that delivers a hassle-free and non-intrusive form of protection to consumers. Since its launch, over 30 million customers in 74 different countries around the world have benefitted with Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) and it has successfully detected nearly 400 million threats over the past one year. This solution can be freely downloaded by consumers at http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/
