SkimIt
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%.
