Is Aussie Mateship Going Digital?

First Online Living Report reveals the digital lifestyle habits of adults and children in eight regions; more Australians making friends and meeting partners online than ever before.

Key Australian Findings - The Norton Online Living Report

• More than 50 percent of Australian adults surveyed have made friends online and prefer them to their offline friendships
• 65 percent of Australian adults have transferred their online friendships to offline
• 86 percent of Australian parents believe that the Internet is not as safe for children as adults
• Less than half of Australian parents surveyed have set parental controls on their PCs, whilst 23 percent of Australian parents have spied on their children's internet usage
• Over one in four Australian children say they do things online that their parents would not approve of

Save 15% on Norton AntiVirus 2008
Use Coupon Code: NAV15
AU - Norton AntiVirus 2008 - 15% Discount Offer Expires 31 March 2008

Save 15% on Norton Internet Security 2008
Use Coupon Code: NIS15
AU - Norton Internet Security 2008 - 15% Discount Offer Expires 31 March 2008

Symantec, makers of Norton security software, today released the first volume of its Norton Online Living Report (NOLR), a comprehensive report on the digital lifestyle habits of adults and children. Culled from an international survey commissioned through Harris Interactive Survey, the NOLR reveals interesting statistics about how Internet-Age technologies have affected families across the world. NOLR examines data from eight countries including Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S., to reveal surprising cross-cultural differences, and similarities, when it comes to interacting with technology.

The NOLR is the first multi-region survey-based document to catalogue the migration of offline activities to the online world. The report finds that, more than ever, users around the world are turning online for their primary source of personal interaction and emotional connection - including dating, friendship and playing - as well as for information and communication. For example, an unprecedented number of adult Internet users worldwide have made friends online (54 percent of Australians) and that many of them (52 percent) enjoy those relationships more than their offline friendships. This indicates a major shift in how people relate to one other and provides potential clues for the future of human interaction.

Symantec commissioned Harris Interactive for the survey data for the NOLR to better comprehend how consumers interact with technology on a daily basis in order to understand the mindset of consumers worldwide. This detailed data will allow Symantec to hone its products, deliver targeted and streamlined services and to anticipate online threats and trends.

Another common theme represented through most of the data worldwide reveals that parents perception of what their children are doing online does not reflect the reality of what their children say they are doing. For example, one in four kids in Australia admit to conducting activities online that they know their parents wouldn't approve of. This can have shocking consequences: in Australia adults believe that four percent of children have been approached online by a stranger, yet children in Australia report that 18 percent of them have been approached.

"The biggest trend that emerged from all these findings is that people are doing things online that they would not do in the 'offline' world, such as interacting with strangers or giving out personal and financial information" said Matthew Drake, Symantec's Consumer spokesperson, Pacific. "All of these findings highlight that people's dependency on the Internet also make them more vulnerable to security threats, yet less than 50 percent of participants took precautions beyond basic security measures."

Appendix: The Norton Online Living Report - A Summary of Key Findings

Communicating:

• Australian adults are more confident about emailing than any other country in the world (96 percent)
• Email has usurped telephone as the major source of communication
  - Most online adults (except in the U.S. and Japan) spend at least 1 hour per month sending text messages from their mobile phones
• Nearly 1 in 5 adults in the world spend time on their personal blog
  - In China, nearly 87 percent of users have a personal blog, however in Australia only 17 percent have a blog 

 Socialising:

• 54 percent of Australian adults surveyed had made friends online. Of those users 65 percent have translated these online friendships to their offline world
• 40-60 percent of online adults globally prefer their online friendships the same amount or more than their offline friendships
• 47 percent of Australian adults and 54 percent of Australian children use social networking sites
• 10-25 percent of online adults globally feel comfortable socialising with strangers online. In Australia this figure jumps to 29 percent
• 30-40 percent of online children globally have made friends online.
  - In Australia the results are slightly higher at 44 percent
  - Approximately 88 percent of online children in China and 74 percent of online children in Brazil have made friends online

Living:

• Online gaming has become enormously popular, with 71 percent of online adults and 95 percent of online children in Australia playing games
  - Globally, the numbers grow for online gaming for both children and adults with 94 percent of online adults and 99 percent of online children in China play online games
• 57 percent of online adults and 73 percent of online children users in Australia download music
  - China and Brazil leads the world in downloading music (China has 97 percent adults and 98 percent children users, while Brazil has 88 percent adult and 89 percent children users)
• 62 percent of online adults in Australia and 50 percent of online children in Australia follow sports online
• 60 percent of online adult users in Australia and 75 percent of online children in Australia visit video sharing websites

Informing:

• 96 percent of online children in Australia get information from school projects via the Internet
  - Germany, France and China have 93 percent of online children researching via the Internet
• The Internet exceeds the offline world as a source of key information about the world we live in
• Most online adults spend at least one hour per month both reading news from online sites/blogs and from a print outlet
• Online beauty and fashion advice has become popular globally with between 3 to 4 out of 10 online users seeking advice

Buying:

• 76 percent of online adults surveyed from Australia had purchased something online at some point
• Global users have a high degree of confidence making purchases online, with almost all online users (especially in the UK) shopping online at least sometimes
• Half of all global online users feel confident shopping online
  - The U.S. has the highest level of confidence among users, with 63 percent, and Japan has the lower amount of confidence among users, with just 33 percent. Australian confidence sits at 55 percent
• Approximately one in three online Australian adults feel confident sharing personal information when shopping online
  - 49 percent of users in China feel confident sharing personal information, while Japan users are the most hesitant with just 18 percent of users

Banking:

• 81 percent of online adults in Australia use the Internet to bank or pay bills online
  - China has the highest number of users with 87 percent, the U.S. has 79 percent of users
• Personal finance falls behind commerce as a standard Internet activity, but the majority of global online users have handled some of their most basic financial transactions online 

Exploring:

• Although the majority of online adults and children have received some level of violation (from minor spam emails to major hack attempts) and express concern about online safety, most users do not take enough steps to protect themselves online
• 78 percent of Australian's surveyed admitted to providing their email addresses to people who are not their friends or acquaintances and 73 percent admitted to providing their name
• Japanese users are the least likely to protect themselves online.
  - The majority of online adults are not confident using the Internet without security software
• A quarter of global online adults have shared credit card information with people who are not their friends or acquaintances.
  - 34 percent of users in the U.S. have shared credit card information and is the highest number globally, with just 13 percent of users in Brazil divulging this information.
  - 27 percent of Australian's have shared credit card information
• The majority of adult users worldwide have installed security software but few go beyond basic steps such as changing passwords frequently, using multiple email addresses and surfing only on trusted sites
  - Germany and Brazil have the highest number of users installing security software with 85 percent each, and Japan and U.S. have the lowest number of security software users at 61 percent and 71 percent
  - In Australia, 84 percent have installed security software, 86 percent run frequent virus scans, 42 percent use multiple email addresses, 48 percent only surf trusted sites and 38 percent change their passwords frequently

Protecting:

• Most parents believe the Internet is not as safe for children as for adults and most children believe the Internet is not as safe for themselves as for adults.
  - The U.S. and Australia have the highest number of concerned parents at 88 percent and 86 percent while Japan has the lowest at 44 percent
• While the majority of parents recognise online threats to their children, most underestimate the prevalence of these threats and far fewer are taking actionable steps such as setting parental controls
• Many parents and children seem to talk openly about what children are doing online which perhaps relate to their overconfidence in children being protected online. 59 percent of parents in Australia have spoken to their children about practicing safe online habits
• 23 percent of Australian parents don't know what their kids are looking at online
• One in four children in Australia (27 percent) say they do things online their parents would not approve of
• Parents underestimate how often their children encounter online solicitations and cyber pranks, with the U.S., UK and France having the highest number of underprepared parents
  - In Australia, four percent of parents believe their children have been approached online by a stranger, yet 18 percent of children admit to being approached

About the Survey
The survey was conducted online by third-party research firm Harris Interactive and returned a total of 4,687 adult and 2,717 child responses. All respondents spend at least one hour per month online and were surveyed in their native language across eight countries (U.S., U.K., Australia, Germany, France, Brazil, China and Japan). The adult (18 and over) and child (8 to 17) samples were both weighted to be representative of the population of online adults and children for each individual country.

The overall study entailed 15-minute interviews among adults and 5-minute interviews among children. Questions asked were identical across all countries, with some overlap between the adult and children surveys.

About Symantec
Symantec is a global leader in infrastructure software, enabling businesses and consumers to have confidence in a connected world. The company helps customers protect their infrastructure, information, and interactions by delivering software and services that address risks to security, availability, compliance, and performance.

Save 15% on Norton AntiVirus 2008
Use Coupon Code: NAV15
AU - Norton AntiVirus 2008 - 15% Discount Offer Expires 31 March 2008

Save 15% on Norton Internet Security 2008
Use Coupon Code: NIS15
AU - Norton Internet Security 2008 - 15% Discount Offer Expires 31 March 2008