Criminals ignore porn for online shopping
A new report out on Wednesday (30 January) reveals that the highest concentration of online security threats do not target pornography, pharmaceutical or gambling sites as much as they do legitimate destinations visited by mass audiences, such as major search engines, retail sites and social media outlets.
Findings from Cisco’s 2013 Annual Security Report (ASR) reveals that online shopping sites are 21 times more likely – and search engines are 27 times more likely – to deliver malicious content than a counterfeit software site.
Advertisements are 182 times more likely to deliver malicious content than pornography.
Security risks rise in businesses because many employees adopt “my way” work lifestyles in which their devices, work and online behavior mix with their personal lives virtually anywhere – in the office, at home and everywhere in between, Cisco said.
Connected world
The business security implications of this “consumerization” trend are magnified by a second set of findings from the Cisco Connected World Technology Report (CCWTR), which provides insight into the attitudes of the world’s next generation of workers, Generation Y.
According to the study, which included respondents from South Africa, most Generation Y employees believe the age of privacy is over (91%), but one third say that they are not worried about all the data that is stored and captured about them.
Respondents said that they are willing to sacrifice personal information for socialization online.
In fact, more Generation Y workers globally said they feel more comfortable sharing personal information with retail sites than with their own employers’ IT departments – departments that are paid to protect employee identities and devices, Cisco said.
The technology group noted that, as Generation Y graduates from college and enter the workforce in greater numbers, they test corporate cultures and policies with expectations of social media freedom, device choice, and mobile lifestyles.
Gen Y is constantly checking social media, email and text updates, whether it’s in bed (3 of 4 surveyed globally), at the dinner table (almost half), in the bathroom (1 of 3), or driving (1 of 5).
Gen Y
This Gen Y lifestyle is entering work environments in greater numbers, spotlighting the future of work and how companies must consider competing for the next wave of talent.
Unfortunately, what the security studies show is the next-generation workforce’s lifestyles are also introducing security challenges that companies have never had to address on this scale.
Although as many as three quarters of Gen Y respondents do not trust websites to protect personal information (such as credit card and personal contact details), their lack of confidence does not deter their online behavior, gambling that they will not be compromised.
More than half of Gen Y is comfortable with their personal information being used by retailers, social media sites, and other online properties if they will benefit from the experience.
Gareth Vorster is being hosted by Cisco to attend the Cisco Live 2013 event in London.
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