Tapping into the online perception of Maltese so
of the mainstream Social Media channels. The survey aimed to assess the current level of awareness, practices and perception of the Maltese public on cyber security. Over 300 people participated in the survey, with a roughly equal balance between those over 55 years of age and those under; and a slight majority of female over male respondents. Based on the survey outcome, a number of indicative insights could be drawn. Although, overall, the traits are encouraging, yet further focus on the specific outcomes merit further considerations, as indicated below.
Security Applications and Security Updates
Just half of the respondents state that they install security applications. A larger majority however claim that they allow software updates/patches to be conducted. One key reason cited by those not performing both good practices, especially among the elderly generation, is a lack of knowledge of what to do or what to install. The younger generation, on the other hand, tend to forego such practices on the premise that they can be done without.
Critical Applications and their Access in Public WiFis
It appears that the majority of respondents do understand the need to avoid accessing, critical applications such as emails, work/productivity and other online services, through public unprotected wi-fi. However, there appears to be a tendency among the younger generation to access their personal social media accounts even through open unprotected public Wi-Fis.
Passwords and Backups
The majority of respondents tend to follow best practices related to passwords including password composition. However, of concern is that the majority of respondents have indicated that they use the same password to various accounts. A substantial number from the elder generation also appear to slack on password frequency change, especially for emails and other online applications potentially carrying critical information. Such tendency, particularly among the elderly is also indicated with respect to frequency of backups.
Secure Online Payments, Privacy Settings and other Good Practices
Although the majority of reTrojan