March 26, 2007

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  NEWS: Symantec Report Details

  Internet security pros Symantec (you may have heard of them if you use some form of Norton antivirus software) recently released their biannual Internet Security Report (SITR). This report, the eleventh one published by Symantec, covered the period between July 1, 2006 and December 31, 2006, and compiled data from over 40,000 sensors planted in some 180 countries. Also, the report collected data from a 20,000 vulnerability database affecting 30,000 technologies and 4,000 vendors. Symantec also owns some 2 million decoy e-mail addresses, allowing the company to gauge worldwide spam and phishing activity. To say the least, it's pretty extensive.
  
  The report shed light on an interesting paradox: globally, computer users are more and more concerned about the emergence of identity theft and the protection of their personal data, yet, most do not want to spend a great deal of time dealing with protection software. Distressingly, Symantec estimates that almost a full third of all computer users are not adequately protected, and that scores of people are not backing up their personal information. Home users are where the report found the most vulnerabilities – these consumers make up 93% of all online attacks, yet only 15% surveyed were confident that they could recognize a fraudulent website. Even more alarmingly, half of all online users us passwords that are not considered strong enough to withstand tampering.
  
  
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