New Delhi: Indian tweens, children between the age of 8-12 years, are enthusiastically adopting internet using multiple devices, but use risky or low level security passwords, a survey by cybersecurity major McAffee revealed.
McAfee's Tweens and Technology Report 2013 said online tweens are potentially vulnerable to risky behaviour on the internet a good number of them have chatted to someone online that they didn't know previously.
"On an average, online tweens in India are using between 3 and 4 devices that can be Internet-enabled, laptop, mobile and desktop predominantly. While 61% respondents said they user desktops, 40% use tablets and 68% use mobile to access the internet," the survey said.
However, a disturbing trend on the rise among tweens is their apathy towards their own online safety. Fifty eight percent of the respondents surveyed use risky or low level security passwords online and almost half of the tweens surveyed share information about themselves over Facebook (41%), it added.
McAfee's report was conducted through a survey across Indian online tweens comprising of 572 male and 428 female respondents from Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.
Another dangerous trend that the survey by the US-based firm revealed is that Indian tweens are becoming more trusting of the virtual world to familiarize themselves with unknown people, in spite of being aware that it is risky.
Thirty six percent of the respondents said they have spoken to someone online that they didn't previously know, while 22% said they have shared personal information online. Twenty two percent who did share this did not think it to be risky.
"Tweens have a clear preference for not only the devices used for internet connectivity but also the type of activity on these devices. So while desktop is preferred mainly for home work, tablets are dominant when it comes to exchanging pictures and playing games," McAfee said.
Seventy percent of the respondents covered said they use desktop for home work related stuff compared to 38%, who use tablets. Almost half of the respondents said they use tablets for playing games and exchanging pictures compared to 40% using desktop, it added.
About 22% of the respondents said they spend 2-4 hours every day on Microsoft's gaming platform Xbox, it said.
