AVG Survey Unveils Users Bad Security Habits and Presents the Riskiest US Cities
Research Now, a leading global online sampling and online data collection company, was commissioned by AVG Technologies, the Czech company that provides antivirus and security software products for home and business users, to run a survey on 8,000 consumers from 35 major US cities, as well as consumers from the UK, Australia and New Zealand, consumers who have internet access and an internet-connected device. The survey, which ran between August 5th and August 22nd, revealed that consumers have bad security habits.
The survey uncovered that among consumers who have an internet-connected mobile device, Americans are most likely to have poor mobile habits. 40% of American respondents said they do no password protect their mobile devices. Out of the consumers who said they do password protect their mobile devices, 34% said they have not changed their passwords in the past year.
Should an accident occur, all data stored on the mobile device will be lost – unless its backed up of course. The bad news is that the survey revealed that 75% of respondents do not back-up their mobile device’s data. When an accident occurs, they rely on the provider to restore their contacts.
Moving on, the survey revealed that PC users have bad security habits as well. Their bad security habits expose them to thieves, viruses and malware. 67% of the more than 8,000 Americans with access to Internet at home that took part in the survey said they do not use an identity monitoring tool. 41% said they never run a manual antivirus scan to make sure their system is virus-free, 38% said their share their online passwords with others, and 23% said they do not back up the data stored on their PC.
The survey also revealed what US cities pose the highest security risk. As mentioned above, the survey looked at 35 major US cities. It ranked them according to their security risk. Here are the top 10 entries:
The survey uncovered that among consumers who have an internet-connected mobile device, Americans are most likely to have poor mobile habits. 40% of American respondents said they do no password protect their mobile devices. Out of the consumers who said they do password protect their mobile devices, 34% said they have not changed their passwords in the past year.
Should an accident occur, all data stored on the mobile device will be lost – unless its backed up of course. The bad news is that the survey revealed that 75% of respondents do not back-up their mobile device’s data. When an accident occurs, they rely on the provider to restore their contacts.
Moving on, the survey revealed that PC users have bad security habits as well. Their bad security habits expose them to thieves, viruses and malware. 67% of the more than 8,000 Americans with access to Internet at home that took part in the survey said they do not use an identity monitoring tool. 41% said they never run a manual antivirus scan to make sure their system is virus-free, 38% said their share their online passwords with others, and 23% said they do not back up the data stored on their PC.
The survey also revealed what US cities pose the highest security risk. As mentioned above, the survey looked at 35 major US cities. It ranked them according to their security risk. Here are the top 10 entries:
- 1. San Antonio
- 2. Tampa, Fl.
- 3. Atlanta
- 4. Dallas
- 5. Oklahoma City
- 6. Charlotte, N.C.
- 7. Detroit
- 8. Denver
- 9. Washington D.C.
- 10. Sacramento, Calif.
