UNITED KINGDOM—According to Kapersky Security Network, an international provider of online security products, there are 750,000 attempts every day to access adult content in the U.K., which works out to over 31,000 tries an hour. That may sound like a lot at first blush, but with a 2009 population of 61,792,000 (and probably rising) one has to ask what the other 61 million or so are doing.
The data itself may be a tad suspect, though, since it is reportedly culled from the number of times that “restricted content” has been accessed on machines using Kaspersky software. It's also unclear from the reports how many of those access attempts were made on corporate networks.
“The majority of attempts to look at adult sites are made in the evening with a peak of activity at 9 p.m.,” reported SecurityPark.net, adding, “Globally, there were over four million attempts to access adult content throughout September, equating to around 160,000 attempts per hour.”
A security researcher at Kapersky, Ram Herkanaidu, commented, “While these statistics are shocking, to most people they don’t come as a surprise. What people should be worrying about is that these attempts could as easily be made by children as they are by adults. As any parent knows, children are naturally curious and will always try to access adult content simply because it is forbidden.
“However,” he added, “parents need to ensure that no matter how curious their children are, they won’t be exposed to unsuitable content. The right software is vital if parents want the peace of mind that comes from knowing their children are safe online.”
In other words—in the best tradition of corporate fear-mongering—be afraid, buy Kapersky, feel better. Now if they could only muster some truly scary numbers.
