Additionally, the "State of the Net" survey shows that consumers face a 1 in 3 chance of becoming a cyber victim, an incidence that hasn’t abated in the past year.

Online consumers who fell prey to phishing schemes experienced a five-fold increase in financial losses since the 2005 survey. The median cost per phishing incident was 0 - five times higher than the median cost of 5 in 2005. Consumer Reports projects that U.S. consumers lost 0 million over the past two years to fraudulent phishing email scams.

The 2006 "State of the Net" survey was conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center among a nationally representative sample of more than 2,000 households with internet access.

Based on the survey, Consumer Reports projects that Americans spent at least .8 billion for computer repairs, parts, and replacement over the past two years to correct problems caused by viruses and spyware.

Consumers can visit www.ConsumerReports.org/security to access the full "State of the Net" report including free tips related to online protection, avoiding viruses, and reporting cyber crimes. There is also a link to a slide show of CR’s visit to Symantec’s Internet security monitoring center.

Among CR’s key 2006 "State of the Net" findings:

Twenty-nine percent of survey respondents said a virus, spyware, or phishing scam caused serious computer problems and/or financial losses in the last two years. And based on survey projections, virus infections prompted an estimated 2.6 million households to replace their computers in the past two years. Additionally, 35% of survey respondents didn’t use software to block or remove spyware. And CR projects that 2.4 million US households with broadband remain unprotected by a firewall.

Spam: The incidence of heavy spam remains as elevated as last year. Survey results indicate that about 795,000 households continued to buy products advertised through spam. Additionally, in 8% of the households surveyed that had children under 18, a child had inadvertently seen pornographic material as a result of spam.

Viruses: The frequency of virus-induced problems is at the same high level as last year. In the latest survey, 39% of respondents reported a virus infection in the past 2 years. Of those, 34% had to reformat their hard drives; 16% permanently lost important data; and 8% had to replace hardware.

Spyware: In the past six months spyware prompted nearly a million U.S. households to replace their computers. Among survey respondents, two of the biggest risk factors for spyware infection were using file-sharing software (like Kazaa) and having minors at home who go online. In homes where children under 18 used the internet, there was a 28% greater incidence of spyware infection in the past six months than in other homes.

Phishing: Only 8% of respondents submitted personal information in response to conventional phishing emails. But the median cost of a phishing incident is up substantially at 0 versus 5 in 2005. New variants on phishing have emerged. "Pharming" infects a computer so that even if you type in a legitimate Web address you’re redirected to a fraudulent site. "Spear phishing" targets email addresses stolen from a company.

Source:  Consumer Reports