70% of net users under attack daily

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UNDER ATTACK: Trend Micro said 70% of internet users in the Gulf are under attack from internet threats daily. (Getty Images)

Seventy percent of internet users in the Gulf are under attack from internet threats on a daily basis, according to a survey published on Monday.

The survey of 500 respondents in the region by Japan-based internet security firm Trend Micro and itp.net found that in the past three months 80 percent of users were affected by spam, 31 percent were affected by viruses and 23 percent were affected by viruses and Trojans.

The survey found 25 percent of respondents are unaware of the threats impacting the region, which Trend Micro described as "startlingly".

"Alarming levels of internet threats are affecting the GCC," Raimund Genes, Trend Micro chief technology officer, said in a statement.

"Our survey reveals that organisations and individuals are not taking the threat level seriously and that needs to change quickly."

The survey also found 81 percent of respondents check personal emails at work and 54 percent check their personal financial data online, while 87 percent of IT departments rely on just basic protection.

Trend Micro said web threats are deployed to a PC without the user's implicit knowledge and permission, and, with 72 percent of employees browsing web sites not directly related to work, the chances of downloading malicious software are "highly increased".

Unprotected hot spots are particularly dangerous, with the study showing that 73 percent of employees use laptops outside of work, increasing the chances of infection, according to Trend Micro.

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