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Canberra Today 13°/15° | Saturday, March 30, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

People urged to secure online profiles

CANBERRANS are urged to not only protect their homes this festive season but their online security.

University of Canberra academic and director of the Centre for Internet Safety, Nigel Phair’s State of the Nation report is a snapshot of the online threat environment based on more than 30 Internet security reports produced in 2010 and 2011.

“We all understand the need to secure our homes over the Christmas break but it is important to consider our online security too,” Mr Phair said.

Mr Phair said social networks are a godsend to cyber criminals.

“The built-in trust among ‘friends’ on social networks makes it easier for criminals to deploy successful attacks. By sneaking in among our friends, hackers can learn our interests, gain our trust and convincingly masquerade as friends,” he said.

Mr Phair said the weakest link in the Internet security chain is the person sitting in front of the computer or digital device.

Some of the key findings listed in the report:

  • Australia is ranked 36th in the Top 50 Malware infected countries
  • Cyber crime costs the Australian economy $4.5 billion per year
  • Cyber criminals are increasingly relying on mobile devices for spreading malware. There has been a 273 per cent rise in malware for smart phones and tablets
  • 54 per cent of adults have experienced viruses or malware on their computers
  • 23 per cent of Facebook users are unaware of privacy protection settings
  • 67 per cent of people receive spam messages on social networking sites

To view the report visit, State of the Nation report.

 

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