Security

Security software in home computers


This survey from @nifty into security software found a surprisingly large number of people paying for their virus protection.

A long time ago I used to use paid-for virus checking, but ever since Microsoft moved into the business I’ve never felt the need for extra protections that don’t do much except permanently slow down the computer. At the office we have Virus Buster which runs every day at 12 noon and would bring slightly older machines to their knees for the following two hours, which is enough to put me off ever voluntarily installing such software.
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By Ken Y-N, ago

About four in ten LINE users have witnessed account hijacking

When I first read the headline figure I thought it was rather high, but the text mentioned hijacking included friends’ Facebook posts promoting sunglasses, which I was seeing about once every couple of weeks last year, although it seems better recently. Anyway, this survey from the chat and SNS service LINE was into the security literacy of their members in the run-up to their “Cyber Disaster Prevention Day” on the 9th of June.

Just to fill up some space, here is a UFO Catcher full of LINE characters:

Taito Station Shinjuku South Gate Gameworld
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By Ken Y-N, ago

One in eight Japanese using two-factor authentication

Do you know what two factor authentication is? graph of japanese statisticsjapan.internet.com recently reported on a survey conducted by goo Research into two factor authentication, a security method that usually consists of a web site sending you an access code to your registered mobile phone when you try to log onto their services. Google also provide an Android application that generates the access codes locally.

Demographics

Between the 20th and 25th of February 2014 1,078 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.5% of the sample were male, 13.4% in their teens, 15.8% in their twenties, 21.3% in their thirties, 17.4% in their forties, 14.8% in their fifties, and 17.3% aged sixty or older.

Last year I wrote some client (Android and iPhone) and server (Apache and Microsoft Server) code to support two factor authentication using a TOTP. I’d love to tell you more, but I cannot as it was (a) work-related and (b) a retelling of the tale would require mentioning other people who might read this blog in an unfavourable light.
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By Ken Y-N, ago

95% of online Japanese know about flame wars

Where did you first come to learn about flame wars? graph of japanese statisticsMobile Marketing Data Laboratories recently conducted a survey into internet troubles.

Demographics

Between the 24th and 26th of September 2013 1,118 members of the MMD Labo monitor group completed a private internet questionnaire. The sample was of both sexes and ages ranged from 20 to 59, but no further details were given.

I think I’ve had most of the problems listed in Q2SQ1! One other one I had was that I wanted to cancel a web hosting service, but in order to do that you had to send a letter (Fax would not do!) at least a set number of days before a billing cycle. I’d tried to get in touch with customer service to sort out a few matters, but as the date rolled round I just cancelled my credit card payment. They sent me payment reminders for about six months, but I just ignored them all and they eventually gave up. I had paid for all the services I used, and they had tried to charge me an extra month or two for services I couldn’t use because they had suspended my account.
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By Ken Y-N, ago

One in four smartphone, tablet users pay for security suites

japan.internet.com recently published a report on a goo Research survey into IT device security, their fourth regular survey into this topic.

Demographics

Between the 13th and 24th of September 2013 1,046 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.5% of the sample were male, 13.5% in their teens, 15.4% in their twenties, 21.9% in their thirties, 16.9% in their forties, and 32.3% aged fifty or older.

I’m quite happy using the free Microsoft Security Essentials, myself. However, I’ve just moved to Linux, the Crunchbang distribution; in fact this is my very first survey typed through the Notepad-equivalent editor GEdit, to which I’ve added a self-written macro that builds the tables you see below. I might upload it to GitHub sometime soon…
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By Ken Y-N, ago

Spring storms

How much danger did you feel from the spring storm? graph of japanese statisticsMacromill Research Inc released an up-to-the-minute survey into spring storms, as Japan has been suffering from them this weekend.

Demographics

Between the 7th and 9th of April 2013 1,000 members of the Macromill monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The sample was exactly 50:50 male and female, and 20.0% in each age band from the twenties to the sixty years old or more group.

For me the storm was a bit of an anti-climax; we had a few hours of horizonal rain, but nothing out of the ordinary compared to when I grew up and we used to have two or three days-work of Atlantic gales to handle. I always feel the same way with typhoons; they can be nasty when they pass straight overhead and you are in a mountainous area or flood plains which amplifies the effect of the rain, but preparations, tying everything in the garden down, always feel like a waste of time.
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By Ken Y-N, ago

Japanese taking tablet security more seriously

This recent short report from japan.internet.com on a survey by goo Research into IT device security, the second time they have conducted this survey, the first being in November 2012.

Demographics

Between the 7th and 12th of March 2012 1,033 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.5% of the sample were male, 16.4% in their teens, 17.9% in their twenties, 21.7% in their thirties, 16.2% in their forties, and 27.9% aged fifty or older.

Here’s a scam virus advert on a tablet:

Ads for scam Android antivirus. No, Android isn't like Windows at all...

I seem to remember translating the previous survey, but I cannot find it on the site. Perhaps I got half-way through and decided it wasn’t interesting enough to be published?

Anyway, I’m curious why tablet security is increasing but smartphone staying static. One factor in the tablet rise is no doubt due to Android increasing market share, and curiously enough if all the extra 36 tablet owners in Q1SQ were non-iOS users, and all of them used security software, then the rise from 42.1% to 55.2% is explained, but I’m sure that’s just a numerical fluke.
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By Ken Y-N, ago

Majority of Japanese Android users will never return to Galapagos

Will you never go back to a standard mobile phone? graph of japanese statisticsjapan.internet.com recently reported on an interesting survey from Trend Micro into Android smartphone usage. Actually, no survey title was given in the article, but that is probably close enough to the theme.

Demographics

Towards the end of 2012 316 people between the ages of 18 and 59 who had changed from a feature phone to Android in 2012 completed a web-based questionnaire, although it is not clear how they were selected or if the survey was private or not.

Note that Galapagos in the title comes from a frequently-used term for Japanese feature phone which have evolved in isolation to devices uniquely suited for their environment, but unable to establish a foothold anywhere else in the world.
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By Ken Y-N, ago

Passwords far outweigh PINs for locking smartphones

Do you use a security lock function on your smartphone? graph of japanese statisticsgoo Research recently carried out asurvey into the interesting topic of smartphone privacy, although japan.internet.com only reported on the security lock results.

Demographics

Between the 5th and 9th of October 2012 1,080 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.7% of the sample were male, 15.6% in their teens, 17.8% in their twenties, 21.3% in their thirties, 16.2% in their forties, 16.3% in their fifties, and 12.8% aged sixty or older.

I don’t use any lock on my smartphone, myself. I’d like to see some sort of voice-based password that combined both voice and phrase recognition.
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By Ken Y-N, ago

Illegal immigrants no longer a major public order threat

Do you think Japan currently has good public order and is a safe and secure country to live in? graph of japanese statisticsA recent Cabinet Office Japan survey into public order, much to my surprise found that the populace no longer pinned the blame for Japan’s ills on foreigners, even when compared to the same survey three and six years ago.

Demographics

Between the 5th and 15th of July 2012 3,000 randomly-selected Japanese citizens were selected from resident rolls and approached for face-to-face interviews. 1,956 people agreed to take part, but a further demographic breakdown was not provided.

I’m not really sure why the figures for fear of foreigners have changes so dramatically for the better in the last six years, and I’m not sure how I would go about finding out the reason behind it. However, it does also seem clear that the new bogeyman is Reefer Madness, especially as round about the time of the survey there was no end of stories about a current social problem of legal highs, dubious cannabinoid derivatives sold as incence in a multitude of shops in Japan’s big cities.
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By Ken Y-N, ago