{"id":15654,"date":"2011-09-16T07:36:39","date_gmt":"2011-09-15T21:36:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/power-up.space\/?p=15654"},"modified":"2011-09-16T07:36:39","modified_gmt":"2011-09-15T21:36:39","slug":"cybercrime-risk-a-perfect-storm-brewing-warns-avg-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.impulsegamer.com\/wordpress\/?p=15654","title":{"rendered":"Cybercrime risk a perfect storm brewing, warns AVG report"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018Wetware\u2019 a crucial factor in increasingly dangerous cybercrime scenarios<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

MELBOURNE and AMSTERDAM, 16 September 2011<\/strong> \u2014 <\/strong>AVG (AU\/NZ) Pty Ltd<\/a>, the distributor of the award-winning AVG Internet and mobile security software in Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific, has released a new report commissioned by AVG Technologies which reveals how the explosion in size and complexity of global cybercrime, combined with the surprising complacency of younger users, is putting lives at risk.<\/p>\n

The report, authored by the research agency The Future Laboratory, reveals that while cyber criminals and malicious programs are becoming increasingly sophisticated and difficult to detect, users are, alarmingly, becoming less vigilant about protecting their online devices. The combination of these two factors presents a potentially disastrous cybercrime scenario.<\/p>\n

Also highlighted in the report is the phenomenon of so-called \u2018wetware<\/em>\u2019, in which the weak link in the security chain is not the technology but rather the human user. The growing risk stems not just from technology (software or hardware) but increasingly from human action (wetware).<\/p>\n

Lloyd Borrett, Security Evangelist<\/a> at AVG (AU\/NZ), said, \u201cIf the weakest link in the Internet security chain is the person in front of the computer, security experts are now warning that the rise of social networks is leading to a rise in social engineering.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust as increased security provision by automotive manufacturers means that to steal a car today you have to steal the keys, with computer systems now capable of being comprehensively protected, the easiest way to get into a home or business computer is now through its owner.\u201d<\/p>\n

A third of Europeans surveyed by AVG and Future Poll don\u2019t update their anti-virus protection. It seems that increasingly cyber criminals are focusing on deceiving the human rather than the machine, fooling the user into downloading and installing malicious software by posing as anti-virus providers or another trusted source. This means of entering a user\u2019s computer bypasses the normal security checks and makes the \u2018wetware\u2019 the weakest link.<\/p>\n

The key findings of the report were as follows:<\/p>\n