According to a survey jointly executed by B2B International and Kaspersky Lab, 32 percent of respondents who share an Internet-enabled device with their relatives, colleagues, or friends do not take any precautions to protect their information. They see no risks associated with sharing these devices even though it can significantly increase the chances of data stored on the device being lost or stolen. In fact, the more people that use a device, the greater the probability of one of them making a mistake and falling for a cybercriminal’s trick.
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Today, the owner of a computer, phone or tablet is often not the only person who uses that device to access the Internet – one respondent in three reported sharing devices. 28 percent of respondents share devices with other adults in their household, five percent give them to their children, while one percent even allow colleagues and other acquaintances to use their devices. These statistics apply to devices which are most often used to access the Internet, which means they are most likely to hold valuable data, such as account logins and passwords.
Leaving a shared device unprotected is extremely dangerous. Nobody can be entirely sure that other users are sufficiently aware of cyber threats: an inexperienced user may fall for a scammer’s bait or download a malicious executable file. At the same time, 32 percent of those respondents who share their computers, phones, and tablets with others do not take any security measures because they ‘do not see any risks.’ Only 33 percent of users make backup copies of important data before giving a device to somebody else, 32 percent password-protect their data, and 22 percent try not to store any important information on such devices.
“Sharing a computer or smartphone increases the risk of malware infection, data loss, and account theft, so it is important to take precautions. Always keep backup copies of important files; delete information that should not fall into the wrong hands, especially by disabling form autofill; try to control user access rights on the device and – most importantly – use programs that provide protection against cyber threats,” suggested Elena Kharchenko, Head of Consumer Product Management, Kaspersky Lab.
Kaspersky Lab offers several solutions designed to provide Internet security on different devices, e.g. Kaspersky Internet Security — Multi-Device and Kaspersky Total Security — Multi-Device. They can safeguard even inexperienced users from visiting potentially dangerous sites, downloading malicious software, and many other threats. Both of these products support multiple platforms – their components can be used to protect computers running Windows and OS X as well as Android devices. The solutions also include programs for safe web surfing under Windows Phone and iOS.
About Kaspersky Lab
Kaspersky Lab is the world’s largest privately held vendor of endpoint protection solutions. The company is ranked among the world’s top four vendors of security solutions for endpoint users*. Throughout its more than 17-year history Kaspersky Lab has remained an innovator in IT security and provides effective digital security solutions for large enterprises, SMBs and consumers. Kaspersky Lab, with its holding company registered in the United Kingdom, currently operates in almost 200 countries and territories across the globe, providing protection for over 300 million users worldwide. Learn more at www.kaspersky.co.uk.
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