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Women less aware of cyber threats

Regina Pazvakavambwa
By Regina Pazvakavambwa
Johannesburg, 07 Aug 2015
Women are particularly concerned about the security of financial transactions compared with other online activities, says Kaspersky Lab's Riaan Badenhorst.
Women are particularly concerned about the security of financial transactions compared with other online activities, says Kaspersky Lab's Riaan Badenhorst.

The ways men and women use the Internet affects the way they secure their devices, says Riaan Badenhorst, MD for Kaspersky Lab Africa.

Badenhorst believes because men are more inclined to visit gaming and entertainment sites, they tend to spend more money on security devices to protect themselves while online.

On the other hand, women usually spend less on their security and often look to the support of IT professionals to assist them with any issues they undertake while online, he says.

Badenhorst points out women Internet users are generally less concerned about protecting themselves against online threats than men. They tend to believe they may never fall victim to cyber criminals, he adds.

A survey conducted by Kaspersky Lab and B2B International found women to be less aware of cyber threats and have a more limited knowledge about types of exploits, ransomware and mobile malware than men.

The surveys says only 19% of women believe they may fall victim to cyber criminals while every fourth man (25%) considers it possible.

This lack of awareness can cause women to pay less attention to protecting themselves against cyber threats when online, says Badenhorst. "When they allow other people (children, friends, colleagues, etc) to use their main device, most women do nothing to protect their data because they 'see no risk'."

There seems to be a connection between awareness of cyber threats and the number of cyber-incidents faced by women and men, says Kaspersky Lab.

In the survey it appears that over a 12-month period, more women than men faced malware incidents, although men were more likely to suffer financial consequences.

Often women are particularly concerned about the security of financial transactions compared with other online activities, and as such tend to refrain from making financial transactions online as they are aware of these risks, notes Badenhorst.

However, they tend to think they don't need the necessary IT security for their devices and apps that are not financially related, he adds.

Badenhorst says when women are online they do face the possibility of losing their important data, like their personal details or private information that can be taken from social media platforms - and this information can be used by cyber criminals to hack their devices.

"In real life people understand that it's important to take sensible precautions to protect the things they value as they go about their day-to-day activities. The same is true online."

Following sensible Web safety guidelines allows Internet users to greatly reduce the risk of losing valuable data or falling victim to financial fraud, says Badenhorst.