News
When asked how long they could cope without internet 17% said they simply couldn’t cope at all!
April 2012 by Infosecurity Europe
Infosecurity Europe has found that 27% of people would be more distressed by having no internet at home than a lack of TV, washing machine, heating or even water! Perhaps unsurprisingly, this differs between men and women, with 32% of men saying a lack of internet would distress them most, compared to just 22% of women – but even so, the results still show the fundamental role of the internet in people’s lives. The street survey was commissioned by Infosecurity Europe in the run up to the 2012 Infosecurity show running from the 24th – 26th April 2012, in Earls Court, London.
Claire Sellick, Event Director for Infosecurity Europe said, “Internet addition isn’t a new phenomenon, but the fact that more than a quarter of people would put internet access ahead of heating and water shows how important it is. Worryingly, 9% of people said they would access unprotected wifi and 4% would hack into secured wifi to get back online – showing that security concerns can go out of the window in people’s obsession with internet access.”
The majority people (72%) said they couldn’t cope more than a few days without internet access at home – and 17% said they couldn’t cope at all. When asked what they would do to get back online, 17% would stay at work, 3 in 10 would go to a coffee shop and a quarter would turn to a neighbour. Londoner Alice Hall, 28, said, “If my internet went down I’d text my neighbour straight away and ask if I could use their wifi – and I know they would do the same.”
Perhaps due to the unseasonably warm weather the UK experienced in March, only 10% of people would find the lack of heating more distressing than the others, although this varied from only 6% of men to 17% of women. Forty-two percent said that a lack of water would be the most distressing option – with that number being the same for both men and women.
Infosecurity Europe commissioned a street survey of 1,000 people conducted in London 26-30 March 2012. For more on the Infosec16urity Europe show please visit http://www.infosec.co.uk. To download the Infosecurity Europe app for your mobile device please visit www.infosec.co.uk/app
