Symantec this week released a study that purports to rank US cities in terms of their risk for cybercrime. The full report offers a ranking of the top 50, and might at first blush give you pause if you live in the one of the top 10:
1 Seattle, W A
2 Boston, MA
3 Washington,
4 San Francisco, CA
5 Raleigh, NC
6 Atlanta, GA
7 Minneapolis, MN
8 Denver, CO
9 Austin, TX
10 Portland, OR
Of course, a little closer reading of the study reveals a highly positive correlation between rank and Wifi hotspots per population density, amount spent on computers and internet access, and frequency of use. Symantec, hardly a dispassionate observer of network security trends, confirms that where people use the Net more often, there are more security problems. Thanks for that folks.
The study is not all common sense though. The full report does list estimates per city for such variables as expenditure, daily use, online purchasing, and broadband connectivity. So, you can ask yourself why, for example, people in Virginia Beach spend up a storm online compared to the good folks of Detroit. Not quite enough here to give the Pew Internet Life project a run for its money but it’s sure to give the news media a convenient headline in some cities.
Update — and wouldn’t you know: http://www.dailytexanonline.com/content/strong-tech-sector-increases-austin%E2%80%99s-risk-cybercrime