Avira Uncovers How Users React to Antivirus Alerts
The simple truth of the matter is that the internet is home to a lot of security threats. There are viruses, Trojans, spyware, adware, rogues, and a lot of other malware types. It is important to keep yourself, your computer and your data safe and protected. You need to use a properly good antivirus application to keep viruses and security threats at bay.
Most computer users get this and use an antivirus. Some of them on the other hand do not, as a survey performed by Avira showed. During the month of February, visitors to www.free-av.com were asked how they react to an alert from their antivirus software.
“The results showed that users have very different reactions – their behavior ranges from indifference to panic. Moreover, the survey brought to light that almost every tenth surfer is still moving around the Internet without any kind of antivirus protection. On top of that, a quarter of antivirus users do not pay attention to their security software and just click the warning away. On the other side, most of the surfers with antivirus programs take care of the security of their PCs and remove the detected malware manually. Some other users first investigate the settings of the virus scanner and then leave the entire responsibility with it. A few users are cautious or unsure about their protection, so they either use a second virus scanner or ask their antivirus provider’s support hotline for advice,” explained Avira.
A total of 5,8111 computer users responded to Avira's survey. Here is what they said:
Perhaps a visual representation will better put things in perspective:
What you have to take away from this is that you need an antivirus application. If you do not have one, a free antivirus is provided by Avira here. The application provides basic protection against viruses, worms and Trojans. If you want a more extensive level of protection, you could get Avira AntiVir Premium – it is not free, but offers properly good protection against all sorts of threats.
Most computer users get this and use an antivirus. Some of them on the other hand do not, as a survey performed by Avira showed. During the month of February, visitors to www.free-av.com were asked how they react to an alert from their antivirus software.
“The results showed that users have very different reactions – their behavior ranges from indifference to panic. Moreover, the survey brought to light that almost every tenth surfer is still moving around the Internet without any kind of antivirus protection. On top of that, a quarter of antivirus users do not pay attention to their security software and just click the warning away. On the other side, most of the surfers with antivirus programs take care of the security of their PCs and remove the detected malware manually. Some other users first investigate the settings of the virus scanner and then leave the entire responsibility with it. A few users are cautious or unsure about their protection, so they either use a second virus scanner or ask their antivirus provider’s support hotline for advice,” explained Avira.
A total of 5,8111 computer users responded to Avira's survey. Here is what they said:
- 3% (169 respondents) said they call the hotline of their antivirus provider to ask for expert advice.
- 7% (411 respondents) said they overreact and turn to an online scanner to double-check the original virus protection alert.
- 13% (772 respondents) said they choose the antivirus application they use very carefully, then configure it in a reliable way from the beginning so they do not have to check constantly whether everything is all right.
- 41% (2,373 respondents) said they pay attention to the alert, check which malware was detected, then repair or remove infected files.
- 26% (1,517 respondents) said they close the virus alert window as soon as they see it and don’t bother with what it had to say.
- 10% (569 respondents) said they surf the web without antivirus protection. This is not advisable. By surfing the web without any sort of protection you expose yourself to spam, phishing, all other sorts of malware and cybercriminals.
Perhaps a visual representation will better put things in perspective:
What you have to take away from this is that you need an antivirus application. If you do not have one, a free antivirus is provided by Avira here. The application provides basic protection against viruses, worms and Trojans. If you want a more extensive level of protection, you could get Avira AntiVir Premium – it is not free, but offers properly good protection against all sorts of threats.
