Web users vulnerable to online dangers

UK web users are left vulnerable to online threats such as viruses and spam as they don’t understand internet jargon, a new study reveals.

AOL’s ‘Do you speak geek?’ study reveals that 84 per cent of home internet users do not understand the term ‘phishing’, used to describe scam emails.

The survey also show that only 39 per cent of home internet users understand the term ‘trojan’ despite it being one of the most common online security dangers.

According to the findings, among the 76 per cent of web users that are concerned about the number of junk emails they receive, 16 per cent of them have never heard the term ‘spam’, which means unsolicited emails.

More than a fifth of respondents admitted that they would not know how to manage internet danger.

Will Smith, Safety and security expert at AOL, said: "Some of the terms being bandied around are more suitable for a computer programmers' convention than for people who want to go online at home."

"If internet users can’t understand the language used to describe these risks, they are going to find it hard to protect themselves from being ripped off," he added.