Today sees the launch of a joint government and industry campaign to raise public awareness of online safety and security risks.
The 'Get Safe Online' initiative will target home users and small businesses and is back up by a new website which offers reliable, expert, up-to-date information about online safety in plain English.
The campaign is a partnership between HM Government, the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit, part of the National Crime Squad and private sector sponsors from the worlds of technology, retail and finance, including: BT, Dell, eBay, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Microsoft, MessageLabs, securetrading.com and Yell.com.
The campaign will be supported by a series of regional roadshows over two weeks starting in Bristol and Cardiff on 31 October. These "public advice tour" will have experts present that will help members of the public with advice on how to protect themselves.
The results of a survey into online safety were also published today and reveals the poor levels of security awareness among the general public. It says that ignorance of these issues is the most powerful weapon internet criminals have against users.
52% of respondents said they had little or no knowledge of PC safety and four in ten relied on friends and family for online advice.
Around half of people do not know where to go for clear and simple advice about online safety; a quarter said they did not have a firewall, while one-in-five did not have anti-virus software installed on their computers.
Speaking of the need for this new initiative, Sharon Lemon, Head of the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit said: "Increasingly we are seeing organised criminals turning to the Internet as a vehicle for their criminality. And as more of us are connecting to the Internet to shop, bank and communicate, we need to make sure that we do so as safely as possible. Get Safe Online gives the public the information they need to protect themselves."
John Hutton, Cabinet Minister responsible for e-Government, added: "The internet has become an essential tool for businesses and consumers, and has brought enormous benefits to our everyday lives, but we all know there are risks too. That’s why we’re running the Get Safe Online campaign to make the internet a safer place to make financial transactions and exchange personal information. It’s a challenge that I believe will be achieved by this collaboration between public and private sectors we’ve created. I’m delighted with the support the Campaign has already received."
Quelle: eGov monitor, 27.10.2005
