Australians too sexy for their unsecured devices

Australians may be getting a little too intimate with their mobile devices, exposing them to embarrassment or worse, a McAfee survey asserts.

Nearly four in 10 Australians (38%) have sent intimate messages, sexts or emails to someone else, and 43% have received such a message, the results show.

Some 14% of respondents - including 20% of men and 7% of women - also admit to filming sexual content via mobile devices.

Of those who’ve sent sexts, personal messages and emails, 71% sent it to a significant other, 38% to a casual hook-up, 22% to a significant ex, 32% to friends and 22% to complete strangers.

But flirty mobile users should be aware that sexy content often stays on the recipient’s phone, with 48% of respondents stating that they still have sexts, photos or messages they’ve received from someone else still on their mobile device.

With over a third of Australian smartphone users still not using password protection, and many smartphone and social media users not thinking twice about sharing their passwords with their significant other, this sets the stage for the scandalous images or texts to be seen more widely than intended.

The survey shows that while 98% of respondents say they trust the recipients not to post racy photos, texts or emails online, 13% have had personal content leaked online without their permission.

“In this age of digital connectivity, people share content from their personal lives with friends, colleagues and strangers, often without stopping to think about whether the recipients can be trusted,” McAfee APAC CTO Sean Duca said.

“They run the risk of their private and intimate data leaking online, possibly jeopardising their identity and reputation.”

He advised Australians not to share their mobile passwords with others and not to use weak passwords that can be easily guessed, including birthdays, repeating numbers and the ever-popular 123456.

Image courtesy of Pro Juventute under CC