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The acceptance of the inevitability of getting hacked is on the rise among apps users

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Soma Tah
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BANGALORE, INDIA: A recent survey commissioned by A10 Networks reveals that despite half of all global respondents consider apps to be as or almost as important as breathing, eating and drinking to them- a significant amount of the world’s population still are not much concerned about the security of their personal data when using apps.

The survey even found a growing acceptance of the inevitability of getting hacked. From a human psychology perspective, people want to think that they we’re safe– and when combined with apathetic attitudes that grudgingly accept cyber attacks as inevitable, this introduces even more risks that threaten the heart of global businesses.

The study was done across 10 countries representing some of the fastest growing populations of technology adopters- Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States- reveals that  some countries more than other want to trust internal and third-party app developers who may not have their best security interests in mind.

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Neil Wu Becker, VP Marketing, A10 Networks said, “Understanding the dependency on apps in our lives raises questions about the diligence we apply to protecting our personal information. This is important when considering use of personal and work apps with work-issued devices on corporate networks in the workplace."

The insight into behavioral tendencies with apps and the impact on personal and business risk is a topic that is not addressed enough. "As a security vendor, we see a need to increase the volume on factoring in human behavior with technology Investments. After all, the greatest security technology can be undermined by negligent behavior, and we want to help our customers protect their solution investments, businesses, and employees,” said he.

Here are some key findings:

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Apps: The Digital Oxygen

More than four out of five globally consider apps integral to their personal lives. so much so that half (50 percent) of all global respondents consider apps to be as or almost as important as breathing, eating and drinking. India ranked second-highest (behind China) as a country that found it most difficult to live without apps, with 97 percent of the Indians surveyed citing they could either not live without apps - or it would be difficult to do so.

Access to apps was almost as important as access to water in India. In fact, India at 68 percent, had the highest percentage of respondents who that claimed apps to be as significant – or nearly so – as air, food, water and shelter.

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A growing apathy towards Apps Security:

The survey found a growing acceptance of the inevitability of getting hacked, as nearly one in three (29 percent) feel cyber-attacks “are a fact of life,” and one in five (21 percent) “just try not to think about it.” Indians lose their mobile devices (39 percent) almost twice as much as the global average, and also report having their mobile devices stolen (22 percent) more often than the global average, and that leaves a big question mark on the security of the data stored in those devices.

One in five (20 percent) respondents have had their mobile device or computer hacked. Almost one in three under 30 (31 percent) has been hacked. Nearly three out of five (59 percent) think having their mobile device hacked and personal information stolen is more realistic than having their car broken into or their home burglarized.

More than one in 10 respondents (13 percent) say they have been a victim of identity theft. And by a wide margin, the younger the generation, the more likely the person is to be a victim of identity theft: Nearly one in five (19 percent) in their 20s reported having their identity stolen globally, while only 2 percent of those older than 50 cited the same. This finding raises questions about how many people do not know they have been victimized.

One in 10 (11 percent) said they never change their passwords for their mobile apps, while another three out of 10 (29 percent) use the same password for the majority of their apps.

Although over four out of five (83 percent) either agree or strongly agree that they think about security risks when first downloading an app, after that, security becomes much less of a concern, ranking behind performance (32 percent) and ease of use (24 percent).

Roughly one in three (32 percent) surveyed think about security concerns when using personal apps. For business apps, security is even less of a thought, as fewer than one in five (17 percent) surveyed cite security as a top thought when using them.

Even though they think app developers may not have security as their top concern – or have the proficiency to build secure apps at all – people still download apps and take their chances. India has a higher percentage than the global average of people who trust third-party app developers – only one in three (33 percent) do not believe security is the top priority for app developers. And more than any other country, 75 percent of Indians trust their internal IT teams to develop secure apps. India showed a higher level of apathy than other countries: only China (71 percent) has a higher dependency than India (66 percent) on their IT teams or third-party app developers to protect them from cyber threats.

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