Average Indian internet user has over $41K worth of unprotected digital assets; ahead of Europe & Japan

Average Indian internet user has over Rs 25 lakh (over $41,000) worth of under-protected digital assets stored on multiple devices, according to a survey released by McAfee Security. Almost 76 per cent of Indian users are concerned with the software and hardware damages from viruses, while 60 per cent are worried about identity theft, monetary theft or fraud due to online activities.

The survey was conducted among 901 people in the age-group of 18-65 years.

The study further reveals that 52 per cent of Indian internet users are worried about the loss of digital assets such as photos, contacts, music files etc, of which 29 per cent claims to have personal memories worth Rs 5,000 to 25,000 digital value. Around 10 per cent has hobbies and projects saved whose cost in digital value would be between Rs 25,000 and 55,000.

As per this study, India has the highest perceived value of their digital assets, with an average cited value of $41,589, preceded by North America (the US and Canada) with $52,154. This can be compared with an average value of $28,461 across Europe (the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and The Netherlands), $23,938 in Japan, and $20,948 in Australia.

The McAfee study also says that seventy per cent of Indians have secured their Windows-based laptops, and 66 per cent have secured their PCs. Only 15 per cent have protected their tablets with comprehensive security software, and only 38 per cent of the respondents have secured their smartphones.

Around 60 per cent of users have stored digital assets on devices that would be impossible to re-create, re-download or re-purchase. About 62 per cent do not protect smartphones with comprehensive security, while a majority (85 per cent) do not protect tablets with comprehensive security.

The study further says that smartphones and tablets are more likely to be targeted by hackers due to its huge proliferation. However, Indians do not pay heed to adopting the right security measures to secure these devices.

As for the spending time, 33 per cent Indian users spend between 5 and 10 hours per week on their mobile devices, and 24 per cent spend more than 20 hours of their mobile devices for personal use.

Almost half of these people owned three to four devices in their houses.