Many South Africans are still taking chances with their online security according to a recent study.
Market research agency Columinate recently released an in-depth internet usage and attitude study conducted among 2002 South Africans who use the internet.
Of those surveyed, 75 percent had anti-virus programmes on their devices, 66 percent do not click on links whose origin they do not know and 66 percent do not accept online invitations strangers. Only 50 percent stated that they regularly changed their passwords. More extreme measures such as covering your computer or phone webcam and USB ports are only taken by 8 percent.
While these statistics might seem reassuring, consider what this says about the things people are not doing when it comes to the basic online security:
– One in four people do not have anti-virus protection on their devices
– One in three people have clicked on links whose source they do not know
– Only half, that’s one in two change their passwords regularly
“Many people seem to be taking their chances online. But some have learned hard lessons this way: 36 percent of consumers have been hacked, with social media and email account hacks being the most prevalent,” says doctor Henk Pretorius, CEO of Columinate.
The most vulnerable to platforms to hacks are social media and personal email accounts with 19 percent and 15 percent respectively. Of even more concern is the 7 percent of consumers who stated that their bank accounts had been hacked, a statistic in line with what has been noted in other studies regarding internet banking fraud.
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