Today is October 1st, which as all of you know from your At-a-glance® calendar, kicks off National Cyber Security Awareness Month!! (Ok, I made up the calendar thing, but someday this might be true.) While I wish we were all so cybersecurity aware that taking care of securing our computer was as frequent or normal as buckling your seatbelt when you get in the car, the reality is a bit different. At today's National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) Summit in Washington, DC, there was a lot of information shared about the current state of consumer security and awareness. And I'm afraid the news isn't all that good.
A study released today (co-sponsored by the NCSA) shows that 78% of Americans lack core online protection (defined as up-to-date antivirus, enabled firewall and antispyware software). And 48% have expired antivirus software! But 98% of those in the survey thought they were fully protected. Why the discrepancy? Well, maybe they bought a computer that had a free trial version of security software but it's expired, or they never turned on their firewall, or they haven't updated their virus definitions in over a month. We should all take a moment to check, not just our computers but our kids' computers and call Mom and Dad and ask about their computers. It might not be as exciting as getting Halo 3 but maybe we need to start giving internet security software for Christmas and Hannukah!
The other statistic that grabbed my attention is an estimate shared by the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, Deborah Platt Majoras, that cybercrime is now costing us $135 billion annually, which is more than the drug trade! No wonder the cybercriminal and underground economy activity has so dramatically increased! (http://www.symantec.com/about/news/release/article.jsp?prid=20070917_01)
If you'd like to learn more about these issues, I highly recommend the NCSA website, www.staysafeonline.org.
If you suspect (or know) you have been a victim of identity theft, please visit the FTC's website, www.ftc.gov.
Message Edited by marianmerritt on 05-19-2008 04:10 PM