Hackers more likely to target smartphones, tablets: Survey

Smartphones and tablets are more likely to be targeted by hackers due to their huge proliferation, security solutions provider McAfee said in a survey.

The survey, ‘Digital Assets Survey’, said sixty-two percent of respondents claimed that they do not protect smartphones with comprehensive security and eighty-five percent of respondents claimed that they do not protect tablets with comprehensive security.

Seventy percent secure their Windows-based laptop and 66% said they secure their PCs, the survey said.

Indian internet users keep aside Rs 25 lakh for their owned digital assets stored across their digital devices, the survey said.

India has the second highest perceived value of their total digital assets, with an average cited value of US$ 41,589 preceded by North American (US and Canada) having an average cited value of US$ 52,154.

Almost half of the respondents use 3-4 connected devices on an average; but do not adequately secure each of them, it said.

Seventy-six percent of the surveyed respondents are most concerned by software and hardware damage from viruses and malware, whereas 60% of the people are most concerned about identity theft, monetary theft and/or fraud due to their online activities.

Sixty percent store digital assets on devices that would be impossible to re-create, re-download or re-purchase.

Meanwhile, McAfee has announced LiveSafe service, priced at Rs 4,399 for a 12-month subscription, which provides cross-device security service using cutting-edge facial and voice recognition technology.

“With the proliferation and adoption of multiple internet enabled devices in Indian households, there is a compelling need to store and secure personal data and identity across all the devices,” said Jagdish Mahapatra, managing director, India and SAARC, McAfee, part of Intel Security.

“McAfee and Intel are jointly dedicated towards plugging this need with cutting-edge solutions that deliver unprecedented data protection across multiple devices with simplified security management. With McAfee LiveSafe service, we are leading the way to deliver the most complete and deepest protection available with

innovative features to protect all devices, identity and personal data of our customers so they can connect with confidence,”  he added.