Users Clueless About Malware and Security Measures

In a new research study about the Internet savvy of16K enterprise users worldwide, the result is about what you would expect: the average user is just woefully ignorant on the topics of malware and security measures. Many of the participants routinely took their company mobile computers home and allowed their family to use for personal internet surfing. Now you know where all of the company malware originates from.

“The level of awareness among Internet users is still inadequate and out-of-date in many respects," the researchers wrote in the report.

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So...train them?

Still common sense should count for something...

DeathPrincess said:

Still common sense should count for something...

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Who is this Common Sense you speak of? I had thought that he was a mythical figure that longer is alive?

TheWeazmeister said:

Who is this Common Sense you speak of? I had thought that he was a mythical figure that longer is alive?

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Not so. These days the deity known as common sense has taken a more "hands off" approach to the world. Only intervening when they feel like it, or until someone is converted to following the faith. Usually several years after university, where classes contain passages that somehow need to be taught. Though in some cases brief periods of devotion maybe occur before, or at sporadic occasions.

MajorDomo said:

In a new research study about the Internet savvy of16K enterprise users worldwide, the result is about what you would expect: the average user is just woefully ignorant on the topics of malware and security measures. Many of the participants routinely took their company mobile computers home and allowed their family to use for personal internet surfing. Now you know where all of the company malware originates from.

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If the OS isn't XP and the patches are applied, the risk is minimal. The biggest windows attack, as I recall, in the past few years was Conficker and it wouldn't have happened if the machines had been patched....nevermind that that attack was largely limited to businesses.

nilepez said:

If the OS isn't XP and the patches are applied, the risk is minimal. The biggest windows attack, as I recall, in the past few years was Conficker and it wouldn't have happened if the machines had been patched....nevermind that that attack was largely limited to businesses.

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Internet Explorer (also known as "The Internet" by many users) combined with Adobe Reader and Flash still have regular vulnerabilities and even acting under the users rights still can manage to download and install keyboard loggers and other nasty-ware that then goes out on http or https connections.

Even if your corporate network has intrusion detection you often do not find out until these computers return to the office. At that point depending on the users role in the company the damage could already be done.

In many cases those with the most power and access to sensitive information in a company are also the most ignorant or tolerant of security policy. IE CEOs and CFOs who hate passwords and demand they be exempt from password rotation and have admin rights to install random things on their systems.

long live the days when all we had to worry about were virus's not all this malware crap

DeathPrincess said:

So...train them?

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This.

But it's always "out of budget" or "can't fit it on the schedule". Nevermind the amount of problems malware or a security breach can cause.

Man I do alot of downloading and porn surfing with only MSE. I must be extremely lucky....

Porn surfing isnt that dangerous if you goto the right sites

oh a personal friend of mine takes his company laptop home, uses it to do internet surfing of the adult type as well as his kids, does a bunch of video and music streaming and even does torrenting on it....and then Monday takes it back in and jacks it into the network....every weekend...