Americans are soft targets for cyber fraud says survey

Americans are soft targets for cyber fraud says survey

Do you know what 'phishing' means? If the answer is yes, you can pat yourself on the back and count yourself among the minority that does. If the answer is no, you needn't feel ashamed as just about 42% of Americans have any idea what it means!

This and other equally disturbing facts surfaced in the second edition of the annual Online Safety Study jointly conducted by America Online and the National Cyber Security Alliance.

Take this: Phishing, which means luring Internet users to reveal personal details (like passwords and credit card information) on a fake web page or email form pretending to come from a legitimate company (like their bank) is more rampant than ever before and seeing the low awareness levels it is a matter of concern.

Cyber-fraud attempts are aimed at one out of every four Web users in the US and a good number of them fall prey believing the bogus mails they receive to be from legitimate companies, the survey reported. About 18 % of the respondents said somebody known to them had been swindled by online identity thieves.

Another disturbing finding was that about 80% of home PC users were missing one of the three critical security elements, viz. updated antivirus software, firewalls, and anti-spyware protection.

As many as 75% of respondents said they conducted sensitive transactions online rendering themselves susceptible to phishing assaults.

Cyber security experts say the findings of this study reinforce the need for Internet users to be more vigilant and better informed about data and information security.

However, on a heartening note, Spyware and viruses affected fewer home PCs as compared to last year, the study said. And according to another recent report, the number of consumers that were using firewalls and antivirus software was steadily rising.