The McAfee Australian Digital Assets survey revealed
SYDNEY, Australia, June 4, 2013 – McAfee today revealed the Australian results of a Global Digital Assets survey which found that the average Australian values their digital assets to be worth over $33,000. That’s the price of an average home loan deposit.
With a $33,000 price tag, the digital assets Australians value the most include music, photos, work contacts and documents and despite the high value, Australians admit certain types of digital devices are being overlooked on the security front. Interestingly, women placed a higher value on personal memories by estimating their worth at $24,321, while men valued memories at $19,828.
While Australians remain conscious about securing their laptops (65 per cent), only (56 per cent) of PC desktops, (13 per cent) of tablets and (22 per cent) of smartphones are being protected. Apple products also rated lower in terms of being secured with Mac Desktops (4 per cent) and Mac Laptops (such as the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac Mini) at 6 per cent.
“Despite many Australians admitting to placing a high value on their digital assets, many still leave their devices unprotected putting them at an increased chance of having something bad happen,” said Melanie Duca, McAfee consumer marketing director, APAC. “This is despite the fact that 78 per cent of Aussies reported being concerned about identity theft and fraud. It’s critical in today’s digital world to always keep all your digital devices protected.”
With many of us visiting 5-20 websites on a regular basis that require a username and password, the importance of our password strength in protecting our digital assets is equally important. Nearly a quarter of digital device users (22 per cent) use easy-to-remember passwords, such as birthdates and children’s names, while some digital device users use complicated passwords, which they then apply to all sites. A staggering 36 per cent use the same password for all or most websites and a further 26 per cent admit to writing passwords down on paper.
“It is very clear that passwords are a difficult item for consumers to remember with 64 per cent of Australians having to reset their online passwords at least once every six months,” Duca continued. “In order to help keep consumers’ digital assets safe and secure, McAfee has created a very easy to use tool to help manage their passwords and keep them safe.”
Almost one in two Australians (47 per cent) recognise their digital assets include many items that are impossible to recreate, re-download or purchase. Personal memories topped the list of most valued assets at $22,262, while digital items containing personal communications were only valued at $698. Estimates varied significantly between the age groups surveyed with 18-24 year olds believing the personal memories on their devices to be worth $72,581, while Australians aged between 55-65 estimated only $2,103 worth of personal memories to be resident on their devices.
After thinking about the number of devices they have as well as the security employed on those devices (or lack of) and the types of files (and their perceived value), 80 per cent of Australians said they would be likely to re-evaluate their security. McAfee’s LiveSafe is specifically tailored to deliver the first unlimited cross-device service to safeguard users’ data, identity and all their devices.
Other interesting statistics from the Digital Assets Survey: 
- 52 per cent of Australians now own between three and six digital devices per household
- Nearly a third of Australians (27 per cent) own more than six devices including smartphones, tablets and laptops
- Over a third (34 per cent) spend more than 20 hours per week using a digital device for personal use
- Australians aged between 18-24 age group report the highest degree of usage, with 50 per cent having a weekly usage of 20 hours a week or more
- Cost is one of the main reasons people don’t purchase additional security protection (40 per cent of Australian respondents, without comprehensive security on their digital devices, said this).
- 80 per cent of Australians have had to reset an online password more than once within the past six months as a result of forgetting their password
McAfee LiveSafe key features and benefits:
- Provides complete, unlimited device security for PCs, Macs, smartphones and tablets against the latest viruses, malware, and spam along with a host of other protections.
- An intuitive cloud-based “safety deposit box” – Personal Locker – allows users to store their most sensitive documents, including financial records, copies of IDs and passports, or anything else that is personal and private, in a convenient, ultra-safe online location. Users access their documents through biometric authentication – using voice, face and device recognition technologies
- Simplified password management securely stores usernames and passwords, and logs in users with one click
- Protects users’ personal information by allowing them to locate, lock and wipe devices in the event they are lost or stolen without compromising the privacy of the data
The McAfee Digital Assets 2013 study was conducted between 15 March and 9 April 2013 in US, Canada, Spain, UK, Italy, Germany, Japan, Australia, Singapore, India, Brazil & Mexico. There were 6,078 respondents.
