Posted: 05th Oct, 2009 By: MarkJ
The results from 532 respondents to our monthly survey reveal that 89.8% believe their Internet connection is "
reasonably secure", yet only 33.6% have managed to completely avoid their computer ever being infected by a virus. The confidence is perhaps understandable because most people now have both an anti-virus and firewall protection installed.
Is your net connection reasonably secure?
Yes - 89.8%
Don't know - 5.6%
No - 4.5%
Have you installed any of these?
Anti-Virus + Firewall - 78.5%
Anti-Virus - 9.5%
Firewall - 6.2%
None - 5.2%
Don’t know - 0.3%
Who should be most responsible for your online security?
Myself (You) - 85.9%
The ISP - 11.8%
Computer Manufacturer - 1.1%
The Government - 1.1%
Has your computer ever been attacked (virus etc.)?
Yes - 66.3%
No - 33.6%
It's pleasing to see that most respondents not only accept responsibility for their computers security but are also actively making sure they have the proper protections installed. However we should not allow this positive result to blind us, there are still dangers out there and having a little paranoia about your online security can be a good thing.
Improved education and the fact that most new computers come equipped with pre-installed protection have aided this outcome. In addition most broadband routers have built-in firewalls already, although it helps to have an additional (software) one installed. The message that staying safe online is important finally appears to have stuck, although it remains important to keep related security and operating software updated. Remember, nothing is ever completely secure.
The latest survey asks: "
Would you buy a lovely house if it could only have up to 1Mbps broadband?"
https://www.ispreview.co.uk/cgi-bin/polls/_polls.cgi?poll=2