Malware can lurk behind a brand you trust
Research by YouGov on behalf of internet security firm Symantec has found that internet users, although aware of the dangers of opening unsolicited emails, will click on images of brands they recognize. 21% would click on social networking site brands, 16% on music store brands, and 5% on banking brands.
The results indicate that if cybercriminals hide malware behind popular brands or other recognizable images they stand a reasonable chance of gaining access to the public’s PCs.
Symantec has launched a campaign to warn and educate consumers about the various online pitfalls: www.everyclickmatters.co.uk
Anti-Social Behaviour: Vandalism the most anti-social activity
51% of respondents rated ‘vandalising property’ as the most antisocial act, chosen from a list attached to the end of a YouGov survey. Second was ‘urinating in the street’, with 22% citing it as the most antisocial activity.
However, only 34% of respondents had actually witnessed vandalism first hand, which was low in relation to the number who had personally encountered litter-dropping (83%), loud swearing in the street (81%), spitting in the street (77%), and excessive noise late at night (72%).
Other antisocial activities appear to be fairly widespread, as 52% of respondents had witnessed people not controlling their pets, 49% had seen someone urinating in the street, and 36% had seen graffiti being created.
Only 1 in 10 adults would intervene if they saw teenagers engaged in graffiti
As both of the major parties are putting tackling anti-social behaviour high on their list of priorities on the next election, we added a few questions to the end of a poll to discover how people to respond to direct interactions with anti-social behaviour.
69% of adult Britons claim that they would intervene if they saw an old lady being mugged. In response to the following question, 40% said they would intervene, prepared to use physical force if necessary, while 29% said they would intervene, but would not use physical force:
“You are walking down a street at 8pm. There are a few people about. You see a heavily-set man mugging an old lady. What do you think, in reality, you would be most likely to do?”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, only 1 in 4 women claim that they would be prepared to use force in this scenario, in contrast with 56% of men.
Graffiti
However, only 1 in10 respondents would intervene in any way if they saw a group of teenagers writing graffiti on a school wall. 35% said they would not even call the police after they had walked away. Older people, having walked away, were much more likely to call the police: 63% of over 55s would do this, compared with 34% of 18 to 34 year olds. This group were, however, the least likely to intervene prepared to use force (1%).
Domestic Violence: Confusion among the public?
A new study suggests that many of us are not aware of the signs of domestic violence with nine in ten people (92%) believing that they don’t know anyone currently experiencing domestic violence. Official figures from Refuge show that one in four women in England and Wales will experience domestic violence in their lifetimes.
The YouGov research findings, on behalf of Avon UK, show that the majority (52%) of people questioned believe that certain communities in the UK are more likely to experience domestic violence than others. 58% of respondents think ethnicity is an influencing factor, 53% religion, and 45% reporting class as a factor.
15% of respondents disagreed with the idea that some communities in society are more likely to experience domestic violence than others.
Reese Witherspoon visited the House of Commons yesterday to raise awareness of domestic violence. The Legally Blonde star has backed a joint campaign by Avon and the charity Refuge to get more Government funding for victim support services in the UK.
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