Most young people aren’t too worried about privacy and security when using the Internet. They could come to regret this attitude later in life.

Those common-sense notions are now supported by an extensive TRU Research report commissioned by RSA, the security division of EMC. Despite the steadily rising risk of being victimized by thieves and scammers on the Internet, young adults by and large conduct themselves online as if they were in a generally non-threatening environment.

The interactive Tableau Public chart below vividly shows the comfort level young adults have doing a wide variety of online behaviors. The big takeaway: most young adults are worried about privacy and security, yet many don’t hesitate engaging in online behaviors which cybercriminals are taking advantage of.

Online comfort



RSA polled 1,000 18- to 24-year-olds and found that at least halfÃ‚Â of the respondents willing to sacrifice security for the convenience of file-sharing, social networking and online shopping. Most young adults are aware of the risk of losing sensitive data, and have a sense that activities, such as posting embarrassing photos, could some day come back to haunt them. Yet most conduct themselves online as if none of that matters, says Sam Curry, RSA chief technology officer.

The survey found:

96 percent of young adults believe that most people their age aren’t as careful online as they should be.

76 percent say most people their age are willing to take chances with security in return for lower prices.

91 percent of those who use social networks say they are friends with persons they don’t know well.

“What happens in Vegas, most certainly doesn’t stay in Vegas, not if you go posting, tweeting and blogging on it,” warns Curry. “It used to be that you could go out for a night on the town, things would happen and you’d all exchange knowing smiles for years to come. Not anymore. Now the division between personal life and business life is becoming more porous, more transparent and more ubiquitous.”

By Byron Acohido

April 28th, 2010 | For consumers | For technologists