Fergie's Tech Blog

Men twice as likely as women to propagate spyware, viruses

John Leyden writes in The Register:

Male workers are twice as likely as their female colleagues to swap music files at work on a daily basis, according to a new survey by censorware firm Surfcontrol. The firm argues that because illicit music and video files are increasingly used to spread spyware and computer viruses that blokes are more often the cause of workplace spyware infestations than women.

"In some instances differences between men and women's PC usage patterns seem very small but in other cases there is a significant distinction," said Steve Purdham, chief exec at Surfcontrol. "They are three times more likely to download free software everyday in the office and this could well be exposing their employers to malicious threats unless measures are taken to better manage user abuse more effectively."

posted by Fergie @ 6/30/2005 08:48:00 AM