September 18, 2012 
With 2.26 billion people now using the internet, cyber criminals are ramping up their efforts to gain access to your private information. Drew explains the risks and how to stay protected.
Since 2007, the world’s population using the internet has grown from 1.319 billion to 2.26 billion. The numbers behind what we are doing online every day are even more staggering.
Daily 2012 statistics
– Google receives 4.7 billion search queries
– 419 billion emails are sent
– 47 billion instant messages are sent
– 2.5 billion Facebook updates, posts, photos, videos and comments are posted
The landscape of the internet has changed significantly over the past five years with more and more inexperienced users going online. This increase in unprotected users has lead to a tidal wave of spam emails, malware and even malware infected websites.
2006 per month statistics
2 million spam emails (5,000 of those were scams)
85,000 new malicious software (viruses) created
400 malware-related websites added
2011 per month statistics
5.2 billion spam emails (1 million of those were scams)
Over 5 million new malicious software created
10.4 million malware-related websites added
These statistics paint a clear picture. There is a clear threat to using the internet without any anti-virus software installed on your computer. The good new is that you don’t have to pay to receive a product which will keep you protected. I have listed below several different virus protection programs and categorised them into free and paid.
Free
You get what you pay for. The free Antivirus products are suitable for the average internet user.
Paid
A paid product will always come with more protection for your computer than the free counterparts. The best part about most of the paid software plans is that you can use them on up to three computers. This allows you to purchase the product with two other people and split the cost. It is worth looking around for the best product that suits you.
For more statistics on internet use visit www.pcmag.com
