Edelman Cybersecurity Survey: Viruses Impact One-Third Of American Internet Users

Edelman provides comprehensive public relations and marketing services to computer security companies in the United States. They’re recent survey shows that nearly one in three Internet users in the US has been affected by a computer virus or hacker in the past two years. The independent survey questioned more than one thousand adults nationwide and also showed that Internet users feel far more secure at work than on their home computers.

According to the survey 32% of the respondents who use the Internet said they had been impacted by a attacker or computer virus in the past two years. Additionally, 43% of Americans said they felt less secure on their home computers versus 17% who felt they were less protected from viruses and attackers at work. The results also indicate that West Coast residents are most likely to feel insecure on their office computers, and the most wealthy and educated feel the most vulnerable on the Internet.

The margin of error for this survey is +/-3.1% at the 95% level of confidence. The survey was conducted utilizing a Random-Digit-Dialing (RDD) methodology to help ensure that every American household with a telephone had an equal chance of being contacted.