'Average Indian Internet user has more than Rs 25 lakh worth of Under Protected Digital Assets stored on multiple devices': McAfee Survey

McAfee, part of Intel Security, released its ‘Digital Assets Survey’ which discovered that Indian internet users place an indicative value of Rs 25 lakh on their owned “digital assets” stored across their digital devices. The survey also showed that almost half of the respondents use 3 to 4 connected devices on average; but do not adequately secure each of them. With multi-device usage becoming main-stream in India, the need for comprehensive and all-in-one security protection across devices becomes paramount. McAfee' LiveSafe service addresses the need, as the industry’s first unlimited cross-device security service that uses cutting-edge facial and voice recognition technology that is well poised to protect users’ digital lives. McAfee LiveSafe service is available through select retailers in India for INR 4399 for a 12-month subscription.

The relevance of this solution is further substantiated by the results of McAfee’s 'Digital Assets Survey’ which was aimed at analyzing the perceived worth of digital assets of Indian respondents and evaluating awareness levels to protect such precious data. Some of the other interesting findings from the survey are as follows-

· India has the second highest perceived value of their total digital assets, with an average cited value of US$ 41,589 (Rs Twenty Five Lakh) preceded by North American (U.S. and Canada) having an average cited value of US$ 52,154 (Rs Thirty One lakh).

· 60% store digital assets on devices that would be impossible to re-create, re-download or re-purchase

· 62% of respondents claimed that they do not protect smartphones with comprehensive security

· 85% of respondents claimed that they do not protect tablets with comprehensive security

With the proliferation and adoption of multiple internet enabled devices in Indian households, there is a compelling need to store and secure personal data and identity across all the devices,” said Jagdish Mahapatra, managing director, India and SAARC, McAfee, part of Intel Security. “McAfee and Intel are jointly dedicated towards plugging this need with cutting-edge solutions that deliver unprecedented data protection across multiple devices with simplified security management. With McAfee LiveSafe service, we are leading the way to deliver the most complete and deepest protection available with innovative features to protect all devices, identity and personal data of our customers so they can connect with confidence.”

India Analysis sheet – Digital Assets Survey

McAfee’s Digital Assets Survey was conducted through an online survey administered across Indian respondents in the age group of 18-65 years comprising 680 male and 321 female respondents. McAfee reveals the average Indian Internet user has high value of under-protected ‘digital assets’

· In the survey, India has the second highest perceived value of their total digital assets, with an average cited value of $41,589 US preceded by North American (U.S. and Canada) having an average cited value of $52,154 US.

· This is compared with an average value of $28,461 US across Europe (U.K., Germany, France, Spain, Italy, The Netherlands), $23,938 US in Japan and $20,948 US ($21,723 AU) in Australia.

Living in a multi-device world

· Almost half of the surveyed Indian respondents said they personally own three-to four devices in their houses. Of this, 49% were male and 46% were female respondents.

· 33% of the Indian respondents said they spend between 5 and 10 hours a week on their mobile devices and 24% of the people said they spend more than 20 hours on their mobile devices for personal use.

Indians are not securing their new-age devices

· While 70% of them said they secure their Windows based laptop and 66% said they secure their PCs, only 15% claimed to protect their tablets with comprehensive security software. Further, only 38% of the respondents secure their smartphones. Smartphones and tablets are more likely to be targeted by hackers due to its huge proliferation. However, the respondents are yet to adopt the right security measures to secure their smartphones and tablets.

· 76% of the surveyed respondents are most concerned by software and hardware damage from viruses and malware whereas 60% of the people are most concerned about Identity theft, monetary theft and/or fraud due to their online activities.

Personal memories have the highest digital value

· 52% of the respondents worry about loss of digital assets (photos, contacts, music files, etc.)

· 29% of the surveyed respondents claimed to have personal memories whose digital value would be between Rs 5000/ - Rs 25000/. 10% of the respondents have hobbies and projects saved whose cost in digital value would be between Rs. 25000/- Rs. 55000/.