11-21-2005, 10:15 AM
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Confirmed User
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Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 2,637
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What percentage of Internet users know how to get rid of spyware?
If I was being highly optimistic I'd say 10 percent of users but I think it?s probably closer to 5 percent or less 
What do you think?
I just read an interesting article about the amount of people infected
Quote:
According to a recent study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, nine out of 10 Internet users say they have adjusted their online behavior out of fear of falling victim to software intrusions, and about 59 million American adults say they have had spyware or adware on their home computer. Additionally the project reports that 68 percent of home Internet users or about 93 million American adults have experienced at least one computer problem in the past year that was consistent with problems caused by spyware or viruses.
While those stats are discouraging, the report also indicated that 25 percent of Internet users say they have stopped downloading music or video files from peer-to-peer networks to avoid getting unwanted software programs on their computers. Perhaps there is some silver lining to the epidemic!
The report also indicated that there is a significant gap between people's perceptions and the reality of what is on their computers. An October 2004 study by AOL and the National Cyber Security Alliance reported that 53 percent of respondents said they had spyware or adware on their computers, but a scan revealed that 80 percent of them actually had such programs installed. Yikes!
That same study found an average of 93 spyware applications on users' computers. The thought of nearly a hundred spyware applications per computer just blows my mind. Experts conservatively estimate that for every 1,000 users in an organization, the costs of fixing spyware-related problems are $83,000 per year. Forrester Research released "AntiSpyware Adoption In 2005," which indicated that 39 percent of respondents, dubbed "technology decision makers," did not know the percentage of desktops infected with spyware in their organizations and 56 percent were unsure of what percentage of help desk calls were related to spyware issues. However, the Forrester report indicates that, on average, 7 percent of all help desk calls are made in response to spyware infections. Considering how much time it usually takes to resolve a serious spyware infection, that number is huge.
I have been infected a couple of times on my home computer ? ahem - when someone other than me was using it. It takes days to "fix" the problem. In fact, I now just re-image my PC because it is easier than trying to find the culprit(s) and eliminate them. I simply keep a backup of my data on an ongoing basis so that I don't have to deal with the potential loss of it.
Meanwhile, the need to fight spyware will push anti-spyware revenues from $12 million in 2003 to an estimated $305 million in 2005. Hmm . . . with all that revenue to be had, how motivated could anti-spyware publishers be to find a cure?
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Full article here http://www.richmond.com/sci-tech/out...r=1&position=6 |
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