Most IT aware users fail to protect themselves against cyber attacks

A recent online Protect the Press Poll survey of more than 100 online, print, and broadcast media to examine the security priorities, prevention mechanisms, and breaches that editors, reporters, and publishers face in their daily business, revealed that 80 % of media staff rarely or never inform their network administrator of online security concerns they encounter. More than half don`t change their passwords, or rely on their company to do it for them, even though 13 % have experienced critical data loss or system failure due to malware to their systems. The results of the survey, conducted by the BPM Forum and AVG Technologies, suggest that they are largely at risk of compromise or infection from online activities conducted to develop a story.

Like consumers, nearly 70 % of press reporters and editors feel threatened by online malware or spyware, and most feel at risk conducting everyday online activities as part of their business, including downloads, email, and correspondence with story sources yet most are failing to take basic steps to secure their cyber activities. Furthermore, while 57 % of the surveyed considered themselves advanced or expert at detecting online risks, the majority were failing to follow basic security practices. In fact, nearly 60 % of those that placed importance on information security never changed their password.

The head of global communications and investor relations with AVG, Siobhan MacDermott said:
 “The value of the research is not that it exposes journalists, but rather it gives us great insight to how our more knowledgeable users are, or are not, protecting themselves. This tells the security community that we have a great deal of work to do as users are not doing many of the basics.”

Every day more than 40,000 new viruses and other malware arrive in virus labs around the world. The most damaging and widespread of these attacks have caused billions in losses. Among the top threats that editors face are spam, phishing, and malware infection. Besides, the media faces compounded risks due to their increased dependence on wireless access and social networking to do their job. Thus, the survey shows that 36 % use Wi-Fi networks most of the time, potentially endangering them to security risks associated with public networks, while 90 % of them use some sort of social networking site, with LinkedIn (75 %) the most popular site followed by Facebook (70 %) and Twitter (51 %). And 20 % access social networking sites both from their mobile phone and their computer.