Complacency In Disclosing Personal Data Online Can Be Risky

Users increasingly reveal their personal information on the Web, and they do not feel uncomfortable doing it, according to Kaspersky Lab, which conducted a research on PC users. The survey results showed that 45% of what users perform online requires them to give out personal or financial details. While a lot many people are confident with online financial transactions, the confidence could actually invite trouble.

According to the Kaspersky Lab survey, despite the growth in backdoor Trojans, keyloggers and Internet scams involving targeted phishing attacks, web users continue to go online to conduct their banking, travel and shopping deals. Users listed the most popular online activities requiring declaration of personal information as: banking (20 percent of Internet activity), shopping (15 percent) and travel bookings (10 percent).

Senior Technology Consultant at Kaspersky Lab, David Emm said in its firm's press release that people are now so used to disclosing their personal data online that it could lead to complacency and risk for falling victim to phishing scams. As time flies these scams get more sophisticated and sometimes hard to detect.

Kaspersky Lab gives a list of advice for users to protect themselves from phishing scams:

They should not fill in forms coming via e-mails asking for personal data. They can enter such data only in a secure website, whose URL should start with 'https://' rather than 'http://'. A check on the padlock symbol in the bottom right hand corner of the browser is necessary. A double-click on it verifies its validity.

Users should resist from clicking links in e-mail messages. A safer way is to type the URL manually into the Web browser.

They should never give out passwords or PINs via e-mail, in fact by any method to an unknown person. Users should also avoid providing personal information to organizations that contact on phone, after all there is no way to verify the caller.

There should be adequate anti-malware programs to block virus, spyware and phishing attacks, and proper security patches for the browser on the system.

Kaspersky's research also reveals that there was a 34% compromise of security of computer users over 2006.

Related article: Complex Virus Infection on Italian Tourist Websites

» SPAMfighter News - 1/15/2007