Consumer Alert: McAfee Releases Results of Global Unprotected Rates Study

Security experts labelled 2011 “Year of the Hack,” with a string of high-profile attacks against corporations and consumers alike. There is no doubt cybercrime is increasing at an alarming rate. The question is: what can you do about it?

McAfee set out to address this question by first understanding the overall level of consumer security preparedness worldwide. The study was conducted in 24 countries, analyzing data from an average of 27-28 million PCs each month, to determine a global estimate of the number of consumers who have basic security software.

•McAfee found that one in every six personal computers have zero protection: 17% of those scanned either had disabled or nonexistent anti-virus software.
•The country with the lowest rating was Singapore, with 21.75% of consumers unprotected.
•Perhaps the most surprising: the United States ranked in the bottom 5 least protected, with 19.32% of consumers living without basic security.
•The country with the highest percentage of basic security protection was Finland, with only 9.7% of consumer PCs unprotected.
•Consumers globally say 27% of their digital files would be “impossible to restore” at all if lost, and not backed up properly, and had an average value of $10,014 US.

If security software is so important, why doesn’t everyone have it?

Unfortunately, many consumers still believe that by simply sticking to known “safe” sites, they’ll be protected from all forms of malicious content. The fact is: the prevalence of sophisticated attacks is rising at an alarming rate. Furthermore, with the adoption of smartphones and tablets, mobile malware has become an immediate threat due to easily accessible personal data like financial and credit card information stored on mobile devices.

Finding a Solution

“The freedom to browse the Internet comes with the added risk of unwanted exposure, and cybercriminals are preying on unsuspecting victims,” says Steve Petracca, SVP and GM of consumer, small business and mobile at McAfee.  “With the increasing number of global cyber-attacks affecting consumers, it is critical that the 17% of consumers that are unprotected update their virus protection before it’s too late.”

Cybercriminals will only continue to increase in number and sophistication as time goes on, but consumers can protect themselves and take control from the bad guys. McAfee makes it easier than ever for consumers to protect all of their devices with award-winning McAfee All Access, which protects all of your digital devices.

See the complete results below, and join the conversation on Twitter by following @McAfee

McAfee Charts of Global Security Protection Rates:

Ranking of Countries by Percentage of Consumers with Basic Security Protection

Ranking,   Country Ranking by Percentage of Consumers Protected,    Percentage
 
1 Finland 90.30
2 Italy 86.20
3 Germany 85.55
4 New Zealand 85.22
5 Denmark 85.00
6 France 84.80
7 Brazil 84.50
8 Australia 84.30
9 Netherlands 84.20
   Norway 84.20
10 UK 83.52
11 Malaysia 83.20
12 Sweden 83.05
13 Philippines 82.87
14 India 82.67
15 Korea  82.42
     Ireland 82.42
16 Canada 82.10
17 China 82.00
19 Japan 80.65
     US 80.65
20 Mexico 79.40
21 Spain 78.67
22 Singapore 78.25
 

Ranking of Countries by Percentage of Consumers Unprotected (No Anti-Virus Installed or the Software was Installed, but Disabled)

Ranking,    Country Ranking by Percentage of Consumers Unprotected,    Percentage
 
1 Singapore 21.75
2 Mexico 21.57
3 Spain 21.37
4 Japan 19.35
5 US 19.32
6 China 18.02
7 Canada 17.92
8 Ireland 17.57
9 Korea  17.55
10 India 17.32
 11 Philippines 17.12
12 Sweden 16.92
13 Malaysia 16.77
14 UK 16.5
15 Norway 15.72
    Australia 15.72
16 Netherlands 15.7
     Brazil 15.7
17 France 15.17
18 Denmark 14.9
19 New Zealand 14.77
20 Germany 14.47
21 Italy 13.8
22 Finland 9.67


Ranking of Countries by Percentage of Consumers With No Anti-Virus Installed

Ranking,    Country Ranking of Consumers Without Any Security Software Installed,   Percentage
 
1 Spain 16.325
2 Japan 13.2
3 China 12.975
4 Mexico 12.9
5 US 12.25
6 Korea 12.225
7 Sweden 11.15
8 Netherlands 10.9
   India 10.9
9 Philippines 10.625
10 Ireland 10.55
11 Brazil 10.45
12 Singapore 10
13 Norway 9.75
14 Germany 9.7
15 UK 9.65
16 Denmark 9.6
17 France 9.5
18 Canada 9.475
19 Italy 9.15
20 Australia 9.075
21 New Zealand 8.525
22 Malaysia 8.5
23 Finland 6.175


Ranking of Countries by Percentage of Consumers with Security Software Installed, but Disabled

Ranking,   Country Ranking of Users with Security Software Installed, but Disabled,   Percentage
 
1 Singapore 11.75
2 Canada 8.45
3 Malaysia 8.27
4 Mexico 7.67
5 United States 7.07
6 Ireland 7.02
7 UK 6.85
8 Australia 6.65
9 Philippines 6.50
10 India 6.42
11 New Zealand 6.25
12 Japan 6.15
13 Norway 5.97
14 Sweden 5.77
15 France 5.67
16 Korea 5.32
17 Denmark 5.3
18 Brazil 5.25
19 Spain 5.05
    China 5.05
20 Netherlands 4.8
21 Germany 4.77
22 Italy 4.65
23 Finland 3.5



1 PCs scanned either had no anti-virus installed or the software was installed, but disabled.
2 Basic security protection is defined as working anti-virus, anti-spyware, and firewall technologies.

About Survey
McAfee analyzed security scans voluntarily submitted by consumers globally using a free diagnostic tool for PCs called McAfee Security Scan Plus. It works with most security software programs and actively checks a consumer’s computer for threats, anti-virus software and firewall protection. It is for Windows operating systems only.  Between 27 – 28 million scans took place each month globally. No personal information was collected as part of these scans.

Note: Due to rounding, country data may show a variance of +1%.


Orginal article: Tuesday, May 29, 2012 at 9:00pm by Consumer Threat Alerts