90 Percent of American Adults Concerned about the Safety of Personal Information Online
11 Décembre 2008 - 3:00PM
Business Wire
As part of its �Keep America Safe Online� campaign with television
crime fighter and victim advocate John Walsh, CA, Inc. (NASDAQ: CA)
today announced a survey finding a gap between online security
awareness and safety precautions by teens, adults and seniors, with
varying behaviors across regions. Survey results showed that 57
percent of American adults fear their identity might be stolen
online within the next two years, and 90 percent worry about the
security of their personal information. In addition, 35 percent of
teens leave their social networking profiles open to viewing by
complete strangers. Adult age was a major factor in terms of
assessing the cybersecurity risk of online behavior. While the
study found that older adults were the most concerned about the
security of personal information while surfing the Internet in
general, younger adults were more likely to worry about security
while performing specific higher-risk activities. For example:
Adults ages 30 to 39 were twice as likely to worry about surfing
the Web in a public place than their counterparts in the 60-plus
age category. Nearly half of respondents ages 18 to 29 were
concerned about security while downloading software, as compared
with just a third of adults ages 50-59. Additionally, adults in the
Pacific region proved to be the most afraid of having their
identity stolen, compared with adults in the Midwest and West. CA
survey statistics also revealed gender to be a significant
determinant in the security fear factor: 42 percent of teenage boys
claimed they do not set up privacy controls on their networking
profiles, leaving them open to the prying eyes of strangers. Nearly
three quarters of teenage girls said they post personal pictures
online. Boys were also 13 percent less likely to verify the
identity of an online contact than girls. In the adult category, 64
percent of women said they were concerned about security while
shopping online as opposed to only 55 percent of men. From a
regional perspective, the Northeastern part of the country showed
twice as many teens active on social networking sites than in the
Midwest and Western regions. As such sites become more popular
nationwide, the data suggests that parents in the Midwest and West
may need to become more active in their children�s online
behaviors. With 87 percent of teens on social networking sites,
their social networking behaviors proved to be a huge vulnerability
point as: 38 percent of teens post their education information. 32
percent disclose their email address. 28 percent reveal their birth
date. 19 percent display their full name. �For 20 years I�ve fought
against creeps that prey on the vulnerable and particularly those
that prey on children,� said John Walsh. �It is imperative that we
all take measures to protect ourselves and our families from
becoming victims. With our kids, in particular, when they post
personal information online, predators have everything they need to
contact teens or steal their identities. In fact, nearly 50 percent
of teens have been contacted by someone they didn�t know on the
Internet.� To help regulate these dangers, parents have taken the
following precautionary measures: 91 percent of parents have spoken
with their children about talking to strangers online. 88 percent
have discussed the risks of visiting inappropriate sites. 85
percent of parents have reiterated the need to protect personal
information on social networking sites, such as Facebook and
MySpace. �What is surprising about these survey results is that
despite parents� awareness of the online dangers of social
networking sites, only 40 percent of them are monitoring how much
time their child spends online,� said George Kafkarkou, senior vice
president and general manager for CA�s Internet Security Business
Unit. �Parents are not taking a proactive role in Internet
oversight beyond a verbal warning. We�ve also noticed that as more
seniors get online, they profess a general concern for Web safety
but a lack of awareness about specific online risks.� More than one
third of parents are taking a backseat to their child�s online
activities, and twice as many parents have communication software,
such as instant messaging, installed on home computers as opposed
to parental control software. Though many parents behave
lackadaisically when it comes to monitoring their child�s online
safety, they have great concern for their own. Adults have taken
steps to safeguard their computers and personal information
including: The installation of anti-virus software (86 percent).
Pop-up blocking software (81 percent). Anti-spyware programs (77
percent). In terms of software to protect their own children, only
30 percent of parents have parental control software installed on
home computers. Even worse, less than one third restrict access to
their child�s profile by controlling security features. The
complete survey results are posted online at
http://security.com/KeepAmericaSafe, a resource for cybersecurity
in the age of social networking, organized cybercrime and an
increasingly diverse Web user population. About CA Internet
Security Business Unit CA Internet Security Business Unit (ISBU) is
a unit of CA, Inc dedicated to the development, marketing and
support for CA anti-malware products. The products include a
full-range of enterprise, SMB and home/home office Internet
security software. The products are backed by CA�s Security Advisor
research team and have received major industry certifications. CA
ISBU products are also offered by more than 10,000 resellers and
OEM partners including leading Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). The products are currently
protecting more than 70 million PCs worldwide. For more
information, please visit http://security.com/partners. About CA CA
(NASDAQ: CA) is the world�s leading independent IT management
software company. With CA�s Enterprise IT Management (EITM) vision
and expertise, organizations can more effectively govern, manage
and secure IT to optimize business performance and sustain
competitive advantage. For more information, visit www.ca.com.
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