OK, it’s totally self-serving, but a new study by McAfee and the National Cyber Security Alliance has found that 78 percent of consumer PCs in the US are not protected (defined as having up-to-date AV, spyware and a properly configured firewall).What’s interesting, though is how many people think they *are* protected: 93 percent according the survey, which is set to be released Monday. “There’s… a troubling perception among the vast majority of consumers that they’re well protected. And they’re not. ” McAfee says. Translation: buy more of our products. 🙂Maybe on Monday we’ll learn then what percentage of the people who are not protected *think* they’re safe. By the way, the percentage of protected computers hasn’t improved much over the past two years. In 2005, the study found that 81 percent of PCs were not protected.These are big numbers and the fact that not a lot more people are becoming protected seems to show that consumers feel they’re doing all they can to be safe. –Robert McMillan Related content opinion Direct Marketing Association on information security: Be safe By Robert McMillan Apr 08, 2011 3 mins Data and Information Security opinion As violence escalates, Libya cuts off the Internet By Robert McMillan Feb 18, 2011 2 mins Core Java opinion An FBI backdoor in OpenBSD? By Robert McMillan Dec 15, 2010 5 mins Data and Information Security opinion Congressional candidate says Democrats leaked his Social Security number By Robert McMillan Sep 28, 2010 1 min Data and Information Security Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe