Singaporeans vulnerable on social media: Trend Micro survey

  • 60% share photos and personally-identifiable information online
  • 56% of respondents recycle their passwords, with 25% doing so thrice or more
Singaporeans vulnerable on social media: Trend Micro survey

A SURVEY of 2,110 consumers in Singapore found that one in four post on their social networks every single day, but merely 40% have profiles limited to friends only. Furthermore, 25% admitted to only knowing half of their Facebook friends in real-life.
 
This leaves them vulnerable, said Trend Micro Inc, which conducted the survey as part of its Trend Micro Vulnerability Quotient. In a statement, the company noted that almost 30% of consumers in Singapore have more than 500 friends on Facebook and 24% have four or more social accounts.
 
Almost 60% of consumers said they share photos and personally-identifiable information online. For consumers who add ‘friends’ on these same networks, they are actually telling more people that they are actually aware of, Trend Micro said.
 
With increased activity online, cybercriminals now have a larger pool of potential victims to target, whether for financial gain or identity theft, the company said.
 
“Everything we do online leaves a digital footprint and it is up to us to safeguard our own digital lives,” said Terrence Tang, senior director of Consumer Business, Asia Pacific Centre Sales and Marketing, Trend Micro.
 
“There are simple ways consumers can stay protected, so that they can enjoy their digital lives freely and with a peace of mind,” he added, which he listed:
 

Passwords: The keys to your digital life
 
Your passwords are the gatekeepers to your every online account. Juggling the multitude of accounts and their passwords, whether emails, financial or social networking accounts, is definitely no easy feat!
 
This is among the reasons why 56% of respondents recycle their passwords, with 25% doing so thrice or more! Moreover, 32% do not change their passwords at all and only a mere 15% do so at least once in three months, as recommended.
 
While 58% of respondents do maintain complicated passwords with eight or more alphanumeric characters, things get complicated when making sure they do not repeat and recycle passwords over all accounts and change them regularly.
 
With 53% of consumers holding three to five different passwords at a given time, consumers are encouraged to manage their passwords well, or turn to secure and reputable password managing apps or software.
 
Hard habit to break?
 
Singaporeans are device enthusiasts. A whopping 61% personally own more than three smartphones, tablets, laptops or PCs. However, only 20% ensure that they keep all of their devices secure with an Internet security solution.
 
Despite almost all of today’s devices being pre-equipped with built-in security features, one in 10 admits to not using any one of them at all.
 
While Singaporeans are notoriously big consumers of media and trigger-happy with just about every camera-enabled device, 20% actually do not back up their data. If they do, only 25% believe against keeping eggs in one basket and saving it in multiple places.
 

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