YONKERS, NY — The risks associated with using the Internet remain high, yet many consumers are still complacent about online security according to the latest survey from Consumer Reports.  U.S. consumers lost almost $8.5 billion over the last two years to viruses, spyware, and phishing schemes according to projections from the magazine’s annual State of the Net survey featured in the September issue.  Additionally, Consumer Reports estimates that American consumers have replaced about 2.1 million computers over the past two years because of online threats.

Consumer Reports’ survey findings produced some hopeful signs that online security is slowly improving because the chances of becoming a cybervictim continue to decline.  Consumers have 1 in 6 chance of becoming a cybervictim, down from 1 in 4 in 2007.

Spyware and virus infections have also declined significantly over the past few years.  However, Consumer Reports’ projects that problems they cause have resulted in damages of roughly $6.5 billion over the past two years.  Consumer Reports also estimates that 3.5 million U.S. households with broadband remain unprotected by a firewall.

The magazine’s 2008 State of the Net survey was conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center using a nationally representative sample of more than 2,000 households with Internet access. Below are additional findings for major online threats.

Spam: One in three survey respondents reported heavy levels of spam.  One of the newest types, cell-phone spam, is a minor nuisance to most online homes. Still, Consumer Reports estimates that 1.2 million people nationwide received more than 25 such messages each during a recent six-month period.

Viruses: The rate of serious virus problems has declined 32 percent over the years that Consumer Reports has been tracking them.  Yet 19 percent of respondents reported that they didn’t have antivirus software on their computer.

Spyware: Spyware problems have declined 54 percent since the magazine has been tracking them.  One in 14 respondents reported a serious computer problem as a result of spyware, compared to 1 in 6 respondents in 2005.  In the past six months, 566,000 households replaced computers due to spyware infections. 

Phishing: Over the past two years, about 6.5 million consumers, or roughly 1 in 13 online households, gave phishing scammers personal information.  Fourteen percent of them lost money.  Consumer Reports estimates that American consumers lost about $2 billion to phishing scams.  Phishing still thrives it’s easy for criminals to download sophisticated and cheap phishing kits that feature authentic-looking corporate logos and other tools.  Despite the dangers, 75 percent of Consumer Reports’ respondents said they didn’t use an antiphishing toolbar.

Consumer Reports rates security suites

New computers almost always come loaded with the trial version of a software suite designed to thwart spam, viruses, and spyware.  But Consumer Reports’ latest tests of 11 security suites show that not all of them deliver enough protection to justify paying $50 or more for the continued protection after the trial period.

Consumer Reports’ tests of security software were conducted both in-house and in an independent research laboratory.   The tests tracked how rapidly the programs addressed actual threats newly discovered by security researchers.  In addition, Consumer Reports looked at programs with modified badware (spyware and adware) and also evaluated whether programs wrongly identified benign files as threats, which might prompt users to delete an important e-mail or a system file that the machine needs to operate.

For optimal protection, users should consider BitDefender, $50. Consumer Reports tests revealed it was consistently very good in performance and fairly rich in features, including the best array of antivirus tools of the high-rated suites.   McAfee’s Internet Security Suite with SiteAdvisor, $50, is a fine choice for a newer computer.  It performed comparably to BitDefender and is among the most effective against spam and phishing.

Users who practice careful computing and want to protect their computers without paying fees should consider free software.  Consumer Reports testers combined three free online security programs – Avira AntiVir Personal Edition Classic 7, Microsoft Windows Defender, and SPAMfighter Standard – and assembled them into a makeshift suite that actually performed better than some lo-rated suites.  The freeware suite lacks the optimal protection and rich features of the best suites, but it provides decent protection, is easy enough to use, and won’t hog much of a computer’s memory.

The latest issue of Consumer Reports also includes Ratings on 33 laptop and 16 desktop computers. The report also includes an extensive investigation into ID leaks, and why the government is one of the biggest culprits when it comes to exposing personal information. For more information on the State of the Net survey and the entire computer protection package, check out the September issue of Consumer Reports or visit www.ConsumerReports.org.