NEWS

AVG survey reveals risqué behavior of young adults vis-a-vis mobile devices
23 September 2010 , Written by Dhruv Tanwar
Bookmark and Share


Online research by AVG Technologies has fund that just 48% of young adults in the 18-25 age group across the US, the UK and Australia use passwords to protect their laptops and mobile devices when accessing social networking sites. Other risqué behavior includes sharing of passwords with friends or family, lower prevalence of security measures in the women surveyed, and accidental downloads of viruses via social networks.
computer_hacked
The results are from AVG's second round of research from its new online campaign to help university students battle Facebook status jacking this school year. AVG’s latest study was commissioned to highlight the dangers of ‘status jacking’— the practice of hijacking status updates on social networks, which is particularly prevalent amongst students and adults under 25 years of age. The findings shed light on the degree to which young adults in all three countries secure the devices that they use to access social networks, including PCs or laptops, mobile devices and handhelds such as iPads.

Tony Anscombe, Ambassador of Free Products for AVG Technologies said that while young adults securing their laptops and PCs is positive news, the most worrying statistic is that four in ten share their passwords, which can leave their social networks open to status jacking and leaves other online accounts, such as banking, vulnerable to attack. “You only have to walk away from your mobile for a few minutes for someone to access your email, download your contacts, and to masquerade as you on a social network,” he said.

Surveying over a thousand 18-25 year olds across the US, Australia, the UK, Czech Republic and Japan during the first week of September, AVG found that:

  • While most 18-25 year olds (78%) secure their laptops with a password, only 41 percent of young adults in the US password-protect their mobile devices. Amongst British young adults, 50 percent secure their mobile devices with a password, while in Australia just over half (54%) take this measure.
  • An average of four out of ten young adults across the UK (42%) and Australia (42%) share their passwords with friends and family. In the US, the figure is over one in three (35%).
  • Overall, young women take less security measures than young men. Forty-two percent of women under 25 share their passwords compared to 28 percent of men. Additionally, 81 percent of men under 25 years old password protect their laptops and PCs, however, a quarter (26%) of women do not take this security measure.
  • Over one in ten young adults in Australia (15%) and the UK (12%) have accidentally downloaded a virus via a social network. In the UK the figure is nine percent.
 

LISTS AND RESEARCH

  • list Global Software Top 100 - Edition 2011
    • The Global Software Top 100 is a list of the world's largest software companies, ranked by annual software revenues. The list is based upon revenue information of 10,000+ IT companies worldwide.
  • Software industry trends (2011)
    • This research article (accompanying the Global Software Top 100) describes changes in the software industry playing field. It analyses trends and key players and forecasts future developments.
  • Top hardware companies
    • A list of the world's largest hardware companies.
  • What happens in the hardware industry?
    • Trends and analysis of the hardware industry and its key players.
  • Top IT services companies
    • A list of the world's largest IT services companies, ranked by annual services revenues. This link will take you to www.servicestop100.org.
  • IT services companies: healthy growth
    • What is happening in the IT services industry? Read this research publication to find out about trends and key players in the IT services industry.
  • Top gaming companies (2010)
    • Entertainment is good business, and gaming software companies are growing faster than the rest of the software industry. This research article discusses trends and key players in the gaming business.
  • Top ERP companies
    • A research publication about the world's leading players in enterprise software.
  • Top security software companies
    • A research publication discussing the world's leading publishers of security software: antivirus-, spamfiltering-, intrusion detection- and firewall software.
  • The fastest growing software companies
    • This research publication reveals the fastest growing software companies in the world.
  • CRM companies: a short list
    • A short list of the leading software companies selling Customer Relationship Management software; aimed at IT managers looking to purchase CRM software.
  • Top software companies in the US (2010)
    • A list of the largest software companies in the United States, ranked by annual software revenues. 2010 Edition, posted 15 December 2010.
  • U.S. software industry trends (2010)
    • A research publication discussing the trends and the key players in the software industry in the United States. Posted 15 December 2010.
  • Top companies in the world (not just software)
    • A general list of the largest companies in the world, ranked by revenues. Not just software companies; in fact, there are no software companies in it...
  • Top IT companies
    • A list of the largest IT companies in the world, ranked by annual revenues. Includes hardware, software and services.
More lists and research >

POPULAR NEWS

Go to news overview >

RECENT NEWS

Go to news overview >