The survey also found that a vast majority of consumers still use credit cards to make purchases over the Internet and bank online. Worryingly, these results indicate that in spite of the increasing governmental and media attention given to cyber attacks such as identity theft and fraud, consumers are still growing more confident about their online safety. With the growth of web threats and the technologically sophisticated tools malware creators have at their disposal, consumers need to demonstrate a high level of caution when spending time online.
Other noteworthy findings, from the countries and issues section of the February 2007 Internet Confidence and Safety survey include:
- Less than half (45 percent) of the U.S. respondents feel very safe when using Internet today; a drop of 6 percent from August 2006 to February 2007. Similarly, the percentage of U.S. respondents who believe the Internet will be much safer in the next 6 months also dropped by 6 percent from 32 percent in August 2006 to 26 percent in February 2007. Correspondingly, from August 2006 to February 2007, significantly fewer U.S. respondents participated in risky online behavior, such as online banking, using credit cards to make purchases over the Internet, downloading freeware/shareware and using public hotspots for Wi-fi access.
- In the United Kingdom, the percentage of respondents who reported infection of malware on their computers in the past 6 months dropped dramatically by 12 percent from 43 percent in August 2006 to 31 percent in February 2007. Meanwhile, only 17 percent of the Japanese respondents reported that their computers had been infected by malware over the past 6 months; a decrease of 6 percent from August 2006.
"As a security vendor, it's our job to stay one step ahead of malware such as Web threats to ensure the protection of customers' on-the-go lifestyles," said Lane Bess, general manager of Trend Micro consumer products and ervices. "Trend Micro has recently introduced new products and services to enable customers to take a more proactive approach to their Internet security and allow us to extend communications to customers that help them know how secure they truly are."
Compiled during February 2007, the Trend Micro Internet Confidence and Safety survey is a unique report that takes place at regular six monthly intervals, surveying 1500 consumers from 5 countries based in 3 different continents. The 5 countries in which the research took place were Japan, the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and France.
