core sector communique

MCAFEE REVEALS 83% OF CONSUMERS HAVE BASIC SECURITY PROTECTION LEAVING 17% UNPROTECTED

Based on Voluntary Scans, Finland is Most Protected Country; Singapore is Least Protected;

India is 10^th least protected country

India, May 31, 2012 – McAfee today announced that it has conducted a global study, analyzing data from voluntary scans of an average of 27-28 million PCs per month, to determine a global estimate of the number of consumers who have basic security software installed. The study found that 83% of consumers had working basic¹ security protection, and 17% of PCs scanned either had no anti-virus installed or the software was installed, but disabled.

“It’s gratifying to see that the majority of consumers have gotten the message that at the very least they need to have basic security protection installed,” said Todd Gebhart, co-president of McAfee. “Protecting digital devices against cybercrime from malware not only benefits each of us personally, but also serves to discourage illicit activity and preserve the integrity of the Internet, which benefits the greater good.”

Key Findings:

· Globally, the study found that 83% of consumers had working basic security protection.

· 17 of PCs scanned either had no anti-virus software installed or it was installed but had expired.

· The country with the highest percentage of PCs with basic security protection is Finland with 90.3% of its consumers protected and 9.67% unprotected.

· The country with the lowest percentage of PCs with basic security protection is Singapore with 78.25% protected and 21.75% of consumers unprotected.

· The data for unprotected consumers was broken down into two groups:

o Consumers who did not have any security software installed

§ The country with the highest percentage of PCs without any installed basic security protection is Spain with 16.33%.

o Consumers who had installed but disabled anti-virus protection

§ The country with the highest percentage of users with installed, but disabled, security protection is Singapore with 11.75%.

India-

· India almost occupies the mid-spot in the overall ranking with 17.32% of consumers without protection and 82.67% with active security protection.

· 10.9% of Indian consumers have no security protection installed; 6.42% have security software installed but disabled

Digital Assets Are Highly Valued; Consumers Don’t Protect Data, Devices

While security protection rates globally for PCs are reasonably high, the McAfee Digital Assets (insert source) study released in September 2011 revealed that more than a third of people (36 percent) don’t have security protection on all of their devices and seven percent have no protection at all.

As smartphones and tablets continue to integrate more deeply into consumers’ daily lives and cybercrime targeting Macs continues to grow, protecting those devices becomes increasingly critical. Easily accessible personal data, including financial and credit card information stored on mobile devices are attractive to cybercriminals and identity thieves, and personal digital material such as photos, can be virtually irreplaceable should devices be lost or stolen.

While not mainstream yet, consumers face a growing threat of mobile malware, with McAfee Labs predicting that more than one in 20 devices will be infected within the next 12 to 24 months.

“Today the number of smartphone and tablet devices has eclipsed PCs,” Gebhart continued. “According to the McAfee Digital Assets study, consumers place an average value of $37,438 US on the‘digital assets’ they own across multiple devices—people in the U.S. valued their assets at nearly $55,000 US, the highest figure of all countries³we surveyed. With this in mind, we encourage consumers to extend protection from PCs to all of their digital devices and the data on them.”

The survey also revealed consumers globally say 27% of their digital files are “impossible to restore” if lost, and not backed up properly, and had an average value of $10,014 US.

This is echoed by a 2011 national study released by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), which revealed that nearly three quarters (72%) of Americans have never installed security software or applications on their smartphones.

McAfee makes it easier than ever for consumers to protect all of their devices with McAfee All Access, which protects all of a consumer’s digital devices for $99.99 US. McAfee All Access is a single solution that protects consumers’ PCs, Macs, smartphones, and tablets from a variety of threats--wherever they connect. Consumers stay safe when they shop and surf on the net, visit social networks, click on online images, or use their email—no matter what device they’re using.

Shortly after it launched, McAfee All Access was awarded Editors’ Choice by the PCMag (insert URL).

Why Are Consumers Unprotected?

Some reasons that consumers don’t have security may include:

• Consumers may not be accustomed to installing their own anti-virus because security software is often pre-installed via the computer manufacturers. They may not understand that once the trial subscription expires they are no longer protected.
• Some consumers may disable their security protection on purpose, to play online games, for example.
• Some PC users believe they don’t need protection if they simply adhere to safe surfing best practices.

Consequences of Unprotected PCs

Without even basic security protection, consumers can be more vulnerable to:

• Malware infections which are difficult to remove
• Data loss — cybercriminals can steal financial credentials like user names and passwords through hidden malware such as keyloggers and exploit that information for financial gain
• Identity theft from hacker activity which can involve cybercriminals accessing a consumer’s PC and exploiting all of his or her personal information

Beyond consequences for individuals, growing cybercrime rates can impact the Internet and how we use it. Documented cases of cyber-attacks against banks, technology companies, e-stores, and government agencies are increasingly in the news and have cost those affected millions, if not billions of dollars. Many of these attacks start by exploiting unprotected or under-protected devices.

Stopping cybercrime is complex and law enforcement officials struggle with several issues:

· Internet crimes often cross international borders and laws in each country differ—if they exist at all.

· Anonymity adds another level of difficulty; hackers can hide IP addresses by routing traffic through numerous servers, for example, and that makes it difficult to track criminals.

· Evidence gathering can also be an issue. Digital evidence is fragile, and savvy cybercriminals can even rig their computers so when certain data is accessed by outsiders, it is destroyed.

In the offline world, criminals have many obstacles – from locked doors and alarm systems on homes, businesses and office buildings to extensive law enforcement networks, but the Internet has no such defenses. Security software is consumers’ first and, in many cases, only defense against cybercrime.

On Feb 2, the United States’ FBI Director Robert Mueller warned Congress that, “down the road, the cyber threat will be the number one threat to the country. James Clapper, director of national intelligence warned that the US has seen a ‘dramatic increase in malicious cyber activity targeting US computers and networks.’”

Clapper noted that almost two-thirds of US firms report that they have been the victim of cybersecurity incidents or information breaches, while the volume of malware on US networks has more than tripled from 2009. He cited industry estimates that the production of malware has reached its highest levels, with an average of 60,000 new pieces identified per day.

McAfee Charts of Global Security Protection Rates:

Ranking of Countries by Percentage of Consumers with Basic Security Protection

Ranking	Country Ranking by Percentage of Consumers Protected	Percentage	Ties
1	Finland	90.30
2	Italy	86.20
3	Germany	85.55
4	New Zealand	85.22
5	Denmark	85.00
6	France	84.80
7	Brazil	84.50
8	Australia	84.30
9	Netherlands	84.20	Tied
	Norway	84.20
10	UK	83.52
11	Malaysia	83.20
12	Sweden	83.05
13	Philippines	82.87
14	India	82.67
15	Korea	82.42	Tied
	Ireland	82.42
16	Canada	82.10
17	China	82.00
19	Japan	80.65	Tied
	US	80.65
20	Mexico	79.40
21	Spain	78.67
22	Singapore	78.25

Ranking of Countries by Percentage of Consumers Unprotected (No Anti-Virus Installed or the Software was Installed, but Disabled)

Ranking	Country Ranking by Percentage of Consumers Unprotected	Percentage	Ties
1.	Singapore	21.75
2.	Mexico	21.57
3.	Spain	21.37
4.	Japan	19.35
5.	US	19.32
6.	China	18.02
7.	Canada	17.92
8.	Ireland	17.57
9.	Korea	17.55
10.	India	17.32
11.	Philippines	17.12
12.	Sweden	16.92
13.	Malaysia	16.77
14.	UK	16.5
15.	Norway	15.72	Tied
	Australia	15.72
16.	Netherlands	15.7	Tied
	Brazil	15.7
17.	France	15.17
18.	Denmark	14.9
19.	New Zealand	14.77
20.	Germany	14.47
21.	Italy	13.8
22.	Finland	9.67

Ranking of Countries by Percentage of Consumers With No Anti-Virus Installed

Ranking	Country Ranking of Consumers Without Any Security Software Installed	Percentage	Ties
1.	Spain	16.325
2.	Japan	13.2
3.	China	12.975
4.	Mexico	12.9
5.	US	12.25
6.	Korea	12.225
7.	Sweden	11.15
8.	Netherlands	10.9	Tied
	India	10.9
9.	Philippines	10.625
10.	Ireland	10.55
11.	Brazil	10.45
12.	Singapore	10
13.	Norway	9.75
14.	Germany	9.7
15.	UK	9.65
16.	Denmark	9.6
17.	France	9.5
18.	Canada	9.475
19.	Italy	9.15
20.	Australia	9.075
21.	New Zealand	8.525
22.	Malaysia	8.5
23.	Finland	6.175

Ranking of Countries by Percentage of Consumers with Security Software Installed, but Disabled

Ranking	Country Ranking of Users with Security Software Installed, but Disabled	Percentage	Ties
1.	Singapore	11.75
2.	Canada	8.45
3.	Malaysia	8.27
4.	Mexico	7.67
5.	United States	7.07
6.	Ireland	7.02
7.	UK	6.85
8.	Australia	6.65
9.	Philippines	6.50
10.	India	6.42
11.	New Zealand	6.25
12.	Japan	6.15
13.	Norway	5.97
14.	Sweden	5.77
15.	France	5.67
16.	Korea	5.32
17.	Denmark	5.3
18.	Brazil	5.25
19.	Spain	5.05	Tied
	China	5.05
20.	Netherlands	4.8
21.	Germany	4.77
22.	Italy	4.65
23.	Finland	3.5

Methodology

Basic security protection is defined as working anti-virus, anti-spyware, and firewall technologies. This is the first industry study of its kind and is thought to be the most accurate snapshot of consumer PC protection to date because it actually scanned users’ PCs for protection status instead of asking consumers directly for security status.

The countries that McAfee conducted the scan in were:

• Asia: Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore
• Europe: Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, UK
• Latin America: Brazil, Mexico
• North America: Canada, United States

McAfee analyzed security scans voluntarily submitted by consumers globally using a free diagnostic tool for PCs called McAfee Security Scan Plus. It works with most security software programs and actively checks a consumer’s computer for threats, anti-virus software and firewall protection. It is for Windows operating systems only. Between 27 – 28 million scans took place each month globally. No personal information was collected as part of these scans.

Note: Due to rounding, country data may show a variance of +1%.

¹ Basic security protection is defined as working anti-virus, anti-spyware, and firewall technologies.

²

³The McAfee Digital Assets study was conducted in 2011 with research firm MSI International and surveyed more than 3,000 consumers in 10 countries (Those countries included in the survey were the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, The Netherlands, Australia and Japan).

About McAfee

McAfee, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), is the world's largest dedicated security technology company. McAfee delivers proactive and proven solutions and services that help secure systems, networks, and mobile devices around the world, allowing users to safely connect to the Internet, browse and shop the Web more securely. Backed by its unrivaled Global Threat Intelligence, McAfee creates innovative products that empower home users, businesses, the public sector and service providers by enabling them to prove compliance with regulations, protect data, prevent disruptions, identify vulnerabilities, and continuously monitor and improve their security. McAfee is relentlessly focused on constantly finding new ways to keep our customers safe.