Canadians becoming more lax about security updates: Ekos

Fewer Canadians kept their security software up-to-date in 2016 compared to five years ago, according to a recent report by Ekos Research Associates Inc., while a little over half of small-and-medium businesses said their business software security is updated on time. About 66 per cent of Canadians surveyed by Ekos reported having kept software on their devices up-to-date, compared to 86 per cent in 2011, the March report, commissioned by Public Safety Canada, said. In addition, about 64 per cent of small- and medium- Canadian businesses (fewer than 250 employees) keep security software up to date on all machines. “I just think people are overwhelmed,” Robert Capps, vice-president of business development for Vancouver-based NuData Security, said in a phone interview Thursday, adding he’s not surprised by the numbers. “As more and more devices are connected to the Internet, the sheer number of exploitable bugs and vulnerabilities exceeds the ability for the average small business person to manage them all.” Capps said that people “don’t necessarily know that all the devices need patches; they may not be turned on automatically and, to be honest, people that are running small businesses … are not technologists — they are not IT folks.” Ekos surveyed self-employed Canadians and those in a managerial position in a small- to medium-sized company, with 550 businesses represented. “Results show that there is as much need for improvement in security protection from online threats to businesses as there is among members of the public in their personal space,” the report said. It added there’s a “need for improvement in security protection from online threats to businesses given that only half or slightly more password protect devices, require password authentication, keep security software up to date, and back up information.” A recent high-profile global cyber security attack compromised over 200,000 computers in at least 150 countries over the weekend, affecting hospitals and businesses. Those affected by the attack, known as the WannaCry hack, did not patch their Microsoft Inc. software, according to a Bloomberg report. WannaCry is a form of ransomware, which is malicious software that extorts money from victims for access to the hacked system. The software is triggered by an infected link or attachment, normally in an email. The Ekos report noted that only 47 per cent of businesses instruct employees to download from trusted sources and 45 per cent instruct them to click only on attachments from trusted sources. Capps said the WannaCry attack demonstrates that patches “need to be applied as soon as they get rolled out.” The report said that the results showed that there is a “a strong demand for information that Canadians can use to protect their personal information and computers.” But when it came to businesses’ level of concern for online threats and their impact on work disruptions and financial loss, 21 per cent of the 529 respondents said their concern was low, 55 per cent of said they were moderately concerned and 25 per cent said their concern was high. In the most recent attack on a Canadian company, a hacker gained access to BCE Inc. customer information on Monday, potentially exposing 1.9 million active email addresses and 1,700 names and active phone numbers. The Ekos report was based on telephone interviews completed with 2,027 Canadian adult Internet users across the country, including panellists from survey research company Probit, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 per cent. — With reporting by Ahmad Hathout at ahathout@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Canadians becoming more lax about security updates: Ekos

News | May 18, 2017

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