According to AVG Technologies survey of more than 8,000 Americans with access to Internet at home, nearly a quarter of Internet users (23%) do not back up the data on their PC.
While 38% of the Internet users admit to sharing online passwords with at least one other person, 41% never run a manual antivirus scan and 67% do not use an identity monitoring service, the survey found.
Forty per cent of Americans do not use a password on their mobile device and of those that do, another 34% have not changed the password in the past year.
The survey, which survey consumers across 35 cities, also found that 75% do not take active measures to back-up their phone’s data, with many relying on their service provider to restore their contacts should an accident occur.
AVG Technologies CEO JR Smith said consumers are getting smarter about online threats but still fail to connect the dots when it comes to understanding that today’s climate requires users protect any device that is internet enabled.
Regarding the US states, AVG found 55% use two or fewer credit/debit cards each month for online purchases and more than 72% Americans are checking their online banking accounts at least once per week for errors.
The survey also found 72% of Americans claim to have never been fooled by an email phishing scam within the past year.
To avoid and minimise risk, AVG recommends that online users should use one credit card with a low spending limit for all online purchases; change passwords regularly; back up data; protect data on the go; and be wary of phishing scams.
The Internet security firm also recommends users to never click on links in emails from banks, or other financial institutions, instead asked them to go directly to the banks’ URLs.
