What Is On Your PC/Laptop/Smartphone?

The other day I was watching a rerun of “Up in the Air,” in which the character of George Clooney makes a presentation titled, “What’s in your Backpack?” This simple question set me thinking and I started wondering, what was there in MY backpack, which happens to be my life and soul, the computer. I kept thinking about it whilst I switched on the PC.

“What is there in you that I value?” I asked the PC, as I opened My Document. And there they were- family albums, my favourite songs, our resumes, the kids’ project work, my husband’s painstakingly prepared business reports, client data, scanned documents, bank details so on and so forth. Further investigations revealed that our smartphones, laptops and iPads also contained a lot of our important personal data, movies and music. Never realized how digitally documented our lives have slowly become!

With this realization came the obvious fear and WHAT IFs. What if the gadgets were misplaced, lost, or stolen? What if the data fell into unsavoury hands? I can approximately calculate the loss of the gadget but how do I put a price to what they hold in store? More importantly, how do I retrieve lost data?

The new McAfee “Digital Assets” survey reveals that “consumers place an average value of $37,438 on the “digital assets” they own across multiple digital devices, yet more than a third lack protection across all of those devices!”

Further, “60% of the over 3,000 global respondents own at least three digital devices per household, while 25% own at least five. (Digital devices are mainly desktop or laptop computers, tablets, and smartphones.) As many as 41% of those surveyed spend more than 20 hours per week using a digital device for personal use.”

The study pointed out:

–In 2010, malware cost consumers $2.3 billion and caused them to replace 1.3 million PCs
–32% of the consumers who don’t use security protection on all of their devices still don’t think they need it.
–31% cited cost as another reason why they are reluctant to purchase security protection for all of their gadgets
–86% agreed that purchasing security protection was money well spent

Most of us consciously try to safeguard our desktops and laptops by installing at least a basic antivirus. But we leave the protection of our smartphones, tablets, and Macs in God’s hands. Cybercriminals have started focusing on these devices now, as they are easier to hack.
The need of the hour is therefore a multi-device security strategy at a competitive price, something that McAfee understood.

The McAfee All Access (www.mcafee.com/allaccess) is the first full security offering for Internet connected devices. It secures all internet-enabled gadgets, from smartphones and tablets to PCs and netbooks. This means, you need only one license to secure all your devices. Say goodbye to sleepless nights and lost data. Get the AllAcess.

Stay safe online!

By: Anindita Mishra