Lloyds TSB is urging online banking customers to step up their IT security after research conducted by the bank indicated that over half of consumer PCs and laptops have been infected with a computer virus.
The survey of 1400 people showed that three quarters of computer users were worried about the threat of viruses, but 10% had never updated their anti-virus software. The research also found that one per cent had no anti-virus technology installed at all.
Just under half (44%) said they had updated their anti-virus software more than 10 times in the past 18 months, while a quarter of respondents confessed that they have only updated once or twice.
Only four in ten had ever downloaded patches from Microsoft to repair security flaws in their operating system.
Matthew Timms, Internet banking director, Lloyds TSB, says: "While we are doing everything we can to make our security watertight, we also urge all of our customers to think carefully about the measures they have taken to protect their PC. This means regularly updating their anti-virus software and ensuring they have a robust firewall."
Cost was the main reason given for not updating anti-virus software, although some respondents claimed that they didn't know it was necessary, or didn't know what to buy.