| | Fri Jun 08, 2007 12:16 pm | | | | Comments: 0 Views: 49 |
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I read a poll published Oct 27, 2004 from Bentley College that states "49 percent of internet users are not aware of security flaws in Internet browsers"(see: http://www.bentley.edu/news-events/pr_view.cfm?id=1648) . Further, "48 percent are rarely sure or are unsure that sensitive information is encrypted before transmitting it over the Internet". I'm sure that these figures have changed slightly since the end of 2004, but I don't think public awareness of Internet security issues has significantly changed. Very few Internet business even address browser security issues beyond general warnings and, for the most part, web publishers seem dependent on tracking tools to target potential customers or deliver targeted ads.
A major security issue on the internet are scripts that are uploaded to sites like myspace where anyone can put up just about anything. Myspace is a large Internet service that appears safe because of it's popularity. What people don't generally realize is that accounts are often fake and that the owner of an account has almost complete control over a visitors web browser with virtually no oversight or restrictions.
Browser security concerns are not solved by updating browsers or turning off javascript. Statistics show that a little less than half of all Internet users are even aware of security flaws. You will find significantly fewer people are aware of the vast amounts of personal information being collected by websites today. There are also very intrusive methods used to collect information of which 99.9 percent of people are completely unaware of (see Spyjax for an example).
The language used to describe security problems is no help either. Existing security and privacy language is far too technical and provides no simple answers to privacy and security concerns. The average Internet user will probably see words like "javascript" and "cookie" as tech-talk and ignore these important issues all together.
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