Quoted in NYTimes.com

1 in 3 Internet Users Think All Websites Are Equally Dangerous

A third of all Internet users thinks that virtually every website poses a potential security threat. According to a new survey by German online security firm Avira, consumers are becoming increasingly aware of potential security issues online, but it looks like for quite a large population of Web surfers, this has turned into something akin to paranoia. Less than 5% of respondents suspect that big portals are especially vulnerable, while 27% (rightly) think warez sites pose major security risks, and 34.5% think that all websites are equally dangerous.

Here is the exact breakdown of Avira’s survey results. Respondents were asked “Where do you suspect is the greatest danger of malware infection on the Internet?”

• 12.59% – Browser games (Poker, etc.) are really popular – the danger here is very high
• 22% – Visitors are exposed to such dangers especially on websites with pornographic content
• 26.69% – So-called Warez sites, which offer illegal software, are extremely dangerous
• 4.14% – Big portals are particularly vulnerable, due to their popularity
• 34.5% – When it comes to security, all websites are equally dangerous, all over the Internet

While it is great to see that so many Internet users are aware of the potential dangers online, it’s also, as Avira’s data security expert Sorin Mustaca notes, somewhat of a sad statement “when 1 out of every 3 people can’t trust any of the websites they visit.”

As a caveat, we should note that Avira’s survey is based on a random sample of the company’s own customers. These users – by virtue of using Avira’s free and paid software in the first place – may skew somewhat more towards being security conscious than the average Internet user.

Copyright 2010 ReadWriteWeb. All Rights Reserved.

© Copyright 2010 Sorin Mustaca, All rights Reserved. Written For: Sorin Mustaca on Cybersecurity

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