Safe Browsing

Consumer Reports magazine has released its 2005 "State of the Net" consumer server and the results show many people think the Internet is becoming a more assault able venue. In the survey results the respondents said that the Internet is no longer the simple information highway it was ,s ay five years ago.
It's more like a no-holds-barred raceway teeming with dangerous and criminal drivers with hardly a police car in sight. Those of us using the Internet face increased assaults through E Mail (Hehe but I am ok), Web site infections, messaging services and downloads. The Consumer Report study concluded that if you use the Internet at home you have a 1-in-3 chance of suffering computer damage, financial loss, or both because of a computer virus or spy ware that attacks your computer.
Further, the survey showed that most on-line threats are worse than they were a year ago, despite the industry's efforts to make it safer. This is largely in part because government does not keep pace with the criminals making the Internet less safe. Here are some of the highlights of the survey of 3,200 households who regularly use the Internet.
- On third said a virus or spy ware caused a serious problem with their computer, resulting in some financial loss
- Half of the respondents said they had been infected by spy ware during the previous 6 months. 18% of those said it was so bad they had to erase their hard drive.
- 51% said they visit fewer web sites because of the danger, and 38% said they download free programs less often.
- 64% said they had a virus on their computer in the past two years.
- Overall, spam decreased slightly. This is the only reduction in malicious Internet activity.
- 6% succumbed to phishing scams and gave personal info because of it. -
- Mac's are safer than Window's PC's. For instance, only 20% of Mac users reported a virus in the past year.
- Despite the dangers, 17% weren't using any virus protection program.
- Spy ware is the fastest growing and most complex threat today and can infiltrate a computer in every imaginable way. One in six people had a major, costly spy ware problem.
Many recommendations were given to help protect the user computer, most so obvious (like downloading the Microsoft Service Packs, using a firewall, virus protection and spy ware program, and not opening suspicious E mail), I need to repeat them all. The problem with most of is that even though we know the dangers and ways to reduce them, often we ignore them. Oh...by the way, this blog is virus free.