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Polls record rising threat over internet security [Cape Times (South Africa)](Cape Times (South Africa) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) WASHINGTON: About 18 percent of US internet users have had important personal data such as bank account information stolen and the problem appears to be getting worse, a survey showed yesterday. The Pew Research Center study carried out in January showed a sharp increase from the middle of last year, when 11 percent reported being victimised. The survey also found 21 percent reported having e-mail or social network accounts compromised, the same percentage as last year. The findings come amid growing concern over the "Heartbleed" vulnerability discovered earlier this month, and months after US retail giant Target acknowledged millions of customers may have had payment cards compromised. "Internet users have become more worried about the amount of personal information available about them online, 50 percent reported this concern in January, up from 33 percent in 2009," Pew researchers wrote. The report is based on a survey of 1 002 adults from January 23 to 26, including 820 internet users. The margin of sampling error for the users is estimated at four percentage points. - Sapa-AFP Cape Times (c) 2014 Independent Newspapers (Pty) Limited. All rights strictly reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info, an Albawaba.com company |