Hyderabadis buy trouble as online shopping gets risky

Hyderabad: People of Hyderabad may love to shop online more than those living in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, but they are also increasingly falling prey to spamware and malware, according to a study conducted by anti-virus giant Norton by Symantec.

While the online-shopping experience has made everyone's life comfortable, cyber security experts say online shopping carts contain a host of spamware and malware, which siphon important data such as photographs, videos and sometimes even money from bank accounts.

"In today's world, mobile devices are more than mini computers in our pockets - they are digital warehouses storing our most personal moments and information, such as photos and videos, conversations with friends and family, financial data, among other things," said Ritesh Chopra, country manager, India, Norton by Symantec.

He further added that despite having at least the minimal security protocol on their phones, "most consumers unknowingly put personal information which is on their mobile phone at risk and compromise on their privacy".

According to the nationwide study released on Tuesday, close to 50 per cent of city residents accepted that they shop online more than ever before. While 68 per cent of users worry about the security threats of online shopping, 42 per cent say they have experienced a security problem, threat or nuisance as a result of using their devices for online shopping.

Another dangerous but interesting revelation that was brought out by the study was that after Chennai, residents of Hyderabad are the most willing to download a mobile application, irrespective of its source, as long as "it looked cool". "While Chennai topped the charts with 29.4 per cent of mobile phone users agreeing that they would download any application, as long as it looked cool, Hyderabad is not very far behind," said Ritesh Chopra.

Making matters worse, roughly 36 per cent of smart phone users from the city said that they would always grant permission to a particularly dangerous application, to look into their contacts, photo gallery or sometimes even messages. "About 30 per cent of people (across the country) have granted unscrupulous applications permission to access their location, which happens incognito," he said.

In the city's context, 50 per cent of phone users granted permission to send promotional texts, emails, and 40 per cent granted permission to access their camera, bookmarks and browser history.

The nationwide study had a sample size of 1,005 users above 16 years of age.

Confirming the findings of the study, even cyber crime cops say that people of the city are not aware of the kind of permissions they grant a particular application. "We warn people against using unscrupulous applications, there have been a few cases in the past where people have thrown security concerns to the wind, placing important bank information and pictures in the hands of a malware," said P Raghuveer, deputy commissioner of police, Cyber crimes cell.

Even data provided by the National Crime Records Bureau in a recent report showed that there had been over 500 cases of cybercrimes in the state of Telangana.

A poor bargain?

50% city residents accept that they shop online

68% users worry about security threats

42% say they faced a security problem, threat, nuisance

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