The Hindu Business Line : 33 pc of online users are novices: Survey

The finding shows that 70 per cent of the users are aware of the various types of viruses that are circulating. However, no one feels completely secure while conducting online activities.

Mumbai , Aug. 11

AROUND 33 per cent of home Internet users fall under the category of `novice' and 13 per cent under the `extra-careful' group, according to a joint survey by Symantec and IDC.

The study on `Awareness and Adoption of Internet Security Software' was a face-to-face survey of 400 respondents who owned personal computers and surfed the Internet, irrespective of where they accessed the Net the most.

The study involved house-to-house visits, street intercepts, and office intercepts - representing city geography, residential and commercial areas, said a synopsis of the survey.

Twelve per cent fall under the `concerned' category (between the `novice' and `extra careful' categories). Another 12 per cent come under the `secluded' class. This includes people who do not give out personal information to those they meet online.

And 18 per cent are under the category of those who `go by the books'.

"These groups would provide insights into the users' behaviour so as to design marketing activities, communications and understand the need and degree of effort required in bringing in intended security behaviour," said a news release from the two companies.

The survey shows a very high percentage of awareness of the terms `virus', `hacking' and `spamming' at 97 per cent, 95 per cent and 96 per cent respectively.

The chances of being subject to virus attacks is 48 per cent, to hacking is 24 per cent and to spam 77 per cent.

Contrary to the belief that users may not be aware of different Internet security threats, the finding shows that 70 per cent are aware of the various types of virusesthat are circulating. However, no one feels completely secure while conducting online activities.

The mean scores show that the two biggest concerns continue to be `receiving files through chat/instant messaging' and `sharing personal information online'.

Users feel relatively secure with `information search' and `downloading files'. Windows dominate the home PC OS usage with 96.5%. For Linux this is only 1%.