Industry News Home More stories like this... RSS Feed

Online threats costing consumers millions, survey shows

Malware infections arising from exposure to online threats and cyber crime activity forced consumers to replace some 2.1 million computers over the last two years, new figures have shown.

According to Consumer Reports annual State of the Net survey, online security problems are the main driver behind buying a new computer, with online threats costing US consumers some $8.5 billion (£4.3 billion)over the last two years.

The survey highlights the ignorance surrounding internet security saying despite the fact that the risks are high many consumers are still complacent about online security

However there is a ray of hope as the survey indicates that online security is slowly improving and now internet users have a one in six chance of becoming a cyber victim, which is down from one in four in 2007.

The survey also revealed that roughly one in 13 online households in the US gave phishing scammers personal information.

The research was conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center.

PC Tools Internet Security is a complete security solution which protects PCs and laptops from online threats like hackers, spam, rootkits, Trojans, viruses and spyware. Visit www.pctools.com to upgrade your protection