« Sudden Drop in Bot-Nets | Main | Frightening New "Man-in-the-Middle" Phishing Scam »

A recent study by Trend Micro about Internet Security found that 51% of Internet users did not believe their security software adequately protected them. This probably means that vendors aren’t effectively communicating with their customers just how secure their software actually makes them and, if there’s a breakdown, why it occurred.

The survey also found that consumers continued to engage in what Trend Micro called risky behavior, which they deemed shopping online with a credit card, online banking, and downloading free software. I'm glad that they didn't recommend shopping online with cash.

The survey also found that:

• 71 percent of Japanese respondents believed they have not been infected by malware in the last six months yet only 24% of them were confident that their Internet Security solution was effectively protecting them.
• In the US, 51 percent of respondents view the Internet as currently being “very safe” but that number drops dramatically to 32% when respondents were asked if they think the internet will be more or less safe in six months.
• Similarly, in Germany, 43% believe the Internet to be “very safe” but that number drops to 24% when asked about the safety of the Internet in six months
• 67% of respondents in Japan admit to using freeware/shareware programs, compared with only 63% in Germany, 62% in France, 44% in the UK, and 43% in the US

Basically, it is the job of the security vendor to communicate to their customers exactly how safe they are in language they understand. This survey will be compiled regularly, and will prove helpful in offering a window into consumers continuing confidence (or lack thereof) in the internet.

And if the confidence drops like many of those surveyed predicted it would, expect an industry shake-out as consumers begin to reassess their insecure relationships with their security solutions.

Posted by pschooff in |Digg This|Add to del.icio.us

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.ebizq.net/mt/mt-tb.cgi/1135