Study says Web users not secure

Fundamentals of privacy seemingly not understood

A new survey finds that Internet users may be engaging in risky online behaviors that could make them victims of Internet fraud, while avoiding actions experts say could actually reduce their vulnerability.

By Julie Dunn – DENVER POST

http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82~10834~2353297,00.html

Commissioned by Wells Fargo & Co., the telephone survey was conducted in late May among 644 adult Internet users and 21 industry experts, including chief technology officers and information technology managers.

Only 22 percent of consumers said that providing personal information in response to an e-mail from a financial institution is "very high risk," in contrast to 76 percent of the experts.

"The 22 percent number is very disturbing because the majority of e-mail is unencrypted, so basically anything that you’re sending via e-mail can be viewed by anyone else," said Matthew Tanase, president of Qaddisin LLC., a St. Louis-based network security firm that was not involved in the survey.

"But most regular users don’t grab the fundamentals of computer security — it can be very confusing."

Of the more than half-million complaints filed with the Federal Trade Commission in 2003, Internet-related fraud was the subject of 55 percent of cases, up from 45 percent in 2002.

Carol Baroudi, co-author of "Internet for Dummies" and co-founder of Baroudi Bloor, an Arlington, Mass., technology research firm that helped design the Wells Fargo survey, compared online security to street smarts.

"If you were walking down the street and somebody came up to you and said ‘Hi, can I have your name and Social Security number,’ you would run — not walk — away," she said.

But when it comes to online banking and bill paying, the experts polled were much more confident than consumers in the safeguards put in place by financial institutions. Eighty-one percent of the experts said they consider online banking to be a low-risk activity, compared to 46 percent of consumers. And 70 percent of Internet experts feel that online bill paying is "very low risk," compared to only 41 percent of consumers.

"Online banking is extraordinarily safe and yet people are very fearful of it," said Baroudi. "I like to think of it as a Brinks armored truck coming (to) your home — those are the kind of safeguards put in place by banks."

Baroudi recommends consumers be diligent about monitoring their online accounts to help prevent fraud.

"You can actually detect fraud by monitoring your online accounts on a regular basis," she explained. "You can see what is happening in an account instead of waiting until the end of the month when the statement arrives. You have a good chance of seeing problems earlier in the cycle and shutting them down."

Baroudi also suggests users change their passwords every three to six months, keep anti-virus software and firewalls updated and be cautious in opening e-mail attachments.

"Don’t open an attachment unless you know for sure it was something you were expecting," said Baroudi. "If it’s an executable program, you ought never to touch it. Delete it and then empty your trash."

To ensure that e-mails from banks and credit card companies are legitimate, Baroudi recommends typing the Web site address directly into the browser, instead of clicking through.