“Secret Life of Teens” Survey Reveals that Nearly Half of Online Teens Have Shared Personal Information with Strangers
MARKHAM, ON – June 22, 2010 – McAfee, Inc. (NYSE:MFE), the world’s largest dedicated security company, commissioned and today released “The Secret Life of Teens,” a survey conducted online by Harris Interactive from May 4-May 17, 2010. The study surveyed 955 U.S. 13-17 year olds (including 593 teens ages 13-15 and 362 teens aged 16-17) and reveals the online behavior of American teens and areas of concern for parents. Results were weighted as needed for age, gender, race/ethnicity, and other key variables. Overall data in this report is representative of U.S. tweens and teens, ages 10-17.
“Keeping kids safe no longer only means teaching them about the dangers of alcohol or how to deal with a school bully,” said Tracy Mooney, mother of three and McAfee Chief Cyber Security Mom. “This report is a wake-up call to the real dangers our teens face when they make themselves vulnerable online. As a mom, it worries me that kids aren’t practicing safe ‘street smarts’ when they’re online.”
 
Teens Talk to Strangers, Give up Personal Information
Harris Interactive(R) conducted an online study on behalf of McAfee, and revealed that despite news headlines, teens are providing more information than they should with strangers:

• 69 per cent of 13-17 year olds have updated their status on social networking sites to include their physical location

• 28 per cent of teens chat with people they don’t know in the offline world

• 43 per cent shared their first name
• 24 per cent shared their email address
• 18 per cent shared a personal photo of themselves
• 12 per cent shared their cell phone number

• Girls are more likely than boys to chat with people online that they don’t know in the offline world, (32 per cent vs. 24 per cent), and 13-15 year old girls (16 per cent) are more likely than boys the same age (7 per cent) to have given a description of what they look like.

“Kids know not to talk to strangers – it’s one of the first lessons you teach them. But online, there’s a sense of trust and anonymity, so kids let their guard down,” said Mooney. “Kids would never hand out their name and address to a stranger in the real world, so it’s alarming to see how many kids do that very thing online.”
 
Despite Tragedies, Cyberbullying Remains; Nearly 50% of Teens Don’t Know What to Do if Cyberbullied
Cyberbullying has made media headlines several times this year, with tales of teens and tweens harassing each other online- with tragic consequences. One-in-three teens knows someone who has had mean or hurtful information posted about them online – like sending anonymous emails, spreading rumors online, forwarding private information without someone’s permission or purposely posting mean or hurtful information about someone online.

• 14 per cent of 13-17 year olds admit to having engaged in some form of cyberbullying behaviour in 2010
• 22 per cent say they wouldn’t know what to do if they were cyberbullied

 
Teens Access the Web Away From Home More than Ever Before
Teens have more options to get online than ever before. “It’s almost impossible to keep up with how my kids get online,” continued Mooney. “It’s not like keeping the home computer in the living room is the answer anymore – you have to educate your kids to be safe while they’re accessing the Web from their friends’ houses, or on their phone – away from my supervision.”

• 87 per cent of teens go online somewhere other than at home
• 54 per cent access from their friends’ or relatives’ houses
• 30 per cent of teens access the Web through a phone and 21 per cent through a video game system
• 23 per cent of kids go online anywhere with an open Wi-Fi signal

 
Teens Hide What They’re Doing Online
Approximately two in five teens say they don’t tell their parents what they do while they are online (42 per cent) and that they would change their online behavior if they knew their parents were watching (36 per cent). In an effort to further conceal online behaviour, teens admit to the following:

• 38 per cent of teens close or minimize the browser when their parents enter the room
• 32 per cent of teens clear the browser history when they are done using the computer
• 55 per cent of 13-17 year olds hide what they do online from parents

 
One in Four Kids to Blame for Infected Family PC
While most teens use the Internet for research and communicating with friends, three in five (62 per cent) of teens also typically view or download some kind of media online – which can lead to dangerous downloads and other online threats that put the family computer at risk.

• More than a quarter of teens (27 per cent) accidentally allowed a virus, spyware, or other software to infect the family computer
• Nearly half of teens (46 per cent) of teens admit to downloading music or videos from a free service, which is much more likely to infect the family PC with everything from worms, viruses, ad-ware, spyware, or backdoors that allow people on the Internet to access the computer
• 16 per cent of 16-17 year old boys have downloaded x-rated content

 
Mooney continues, “Like me, most parents think they have a handle on what kind of online content their children are exploring. This report makes it clear that we need to be much more involved with helping our kids make the right decisions online. Education is key.”
For information about family Internet safety solutions and advice, please visit www.mcafee.com/family.
The entire 2010 Secret Life of Teens report can be viewed at http://us.mcafee.com/en-us/local/docs/lives_of_teens.pdf. Visit www.mcafee.com for additional information.