In just under two hours an unprotected computer was rendered unusable through online attacks in an experiment in Auckland today.
The experiment was designed to show what a household with a computer put itself at risk of everyday, and was carried out by NetSafe and IBM.
It was carried out to mark International Computer Security Day yesterday.
During the two-hour experiment, four New Zealanders ranging from a teenage boy to a senior citizen went about their online day-to-day tasks on poorly secured computers.
NetSafe and IBM monitored more than 112 direct attempts to attack the four computers over two hours.
The first probes happened within 30 seconds of the computers going live and the first attempt at intrusion happened within the first two minutes.
The first computer became unusable after an hour and 40 minutes.
Participants also unwittingly received pop up advertisements from hate crimes, discrimination, pornography and illegal activities websites.
NetSafe executive director Martin Cocker said the results showed clearly how important computer security was.
"Our at-home unsecure computers are becoming spammers, slaves and money-makers for criminals, as well as stealing our personal data," Mr Cocker said.
"The more malicious software that infiltrate the computers, the slower they run. For one computer in our experiment, the malicious software was using all of the computer's resources - and our user couldn't run any of their programmes."
As the participants checked emails, visited different websites, and downloaded software, the computers were bombarded by attempts to upload viruses and spyware (malware), some of which were successful.
The successfully installed malware then enabled criminals to monitor and steal data, or to remotely control the computers.
IBM security specialist John Martin, said as soon as people went live on the internet without security they were instantly detected.
"You are scanned and identified, not by a human sitting at home, but by automatic and robotic systems.
"When we set out with this experiment we gave the four computers the bare essentials. The computers had no antivirus or firewall software and yet the participants went online as if they were bulletproof."
He said the people behind these viruses and malware were very real and they were out there to gain people's personal information. Both Mr Cocker and Mr Martin recommended people should make sure their computer was protected with up-to-date anti-virus and anti-spyware software.
Founded in 1998, NetSafe provides cybersafety education for all New Zealanders - children, parents, schools, community organisations and businesses.
It works to develop national cybersafety initiatives and aims to educate all New Zealanders about safe, secure and responsible use of information and communication technology.
