Richer surfers feel less secure

Almost one-third of internet users in the US have fallen victim to a computer virus or hackers in the past two years - and the richer the surfer, the more vulnerable they feel.

A survey of more than 1,000 US web users, conducted by marketing services firm Edelman, found that 43 per cent of Americans said they felt less secure on their home computers, compared with 17 per cent who felt less protected from viruses and hackers at work.

And 32 per of respondents said they had been hit by a hacker or computer virus in the past two years.

"This survey gives us a clearer picture of what people are thinking about when it comes to computer security," said Jim Burke, senior vice president of Edelman.

"It's also interesting to see that people are feeling more secure in their internet activities at the office. Maybe this is a result of the many technological advancements in security products over the past few years."

The survey reported that the most wealthy and educated internet users feel the most vulnerable online, and claimed their composite make-up would be that of a young male, studying at or recently graduated from college, somewhere in the mid-west of the country.