Kaspersky announced the campaign “Pain in the neck”, exploring users’ attitudes to updating devices. According to a recent Kaspersky study, device users consider installing updates a boring task and half of respondents usually just snooze them.
Meanwhile, 40% of respondents admit doing something else, mostly offline activities, while waiting for their devices to update.
Updates to devices are not only necessary to gain access to new features or interfaces, they also help to maintain a high level of security. Vendors regularly test their offerings to find new potential vulnerabilities that could be exploited by attackers. The timely installation of updates can serve as an effective defense against cybercriminals. This downtime can also increase people’s productivity and help with well-being.
Respondents agree that the time spent waiting for devices to update can be valuable, with 40% saying that this can be used for other purposes even if it affects their productivity, and 39% even enjoy the break away from technology.
Generally, users mostly prefer to shift to other activities while updates are being installed. For example, when their devices are unavailable, 31% of respondents try to switch off and relax (watch TV or read a book), 18% distract themselves by cooking, and 9% prefer sports or going for a walk. Almost a quarter of respondents (23%) continue to do what they were doing, simply switching to another device.
Despite the benefits of such pauses, once they receive update notifications on their devices, 50% usually postpone the installation of updates. The most popular reason is because users are busy at work (30%), followed by options where users do not want to stop using their device at that moment (26%), and a quarter (25%) do not want to close the application. All in all, 63% see no harm in such delay.
“It makes complete sense to switch to another device while the gadget you were using originally is going through an update cycle. Playing sports, cooking, or a little meditation could be a timely break from the working day, helping people to relax and reboot. We were pleased to see in our survey that many people already follow healthy practices, and we call on others to follow their example. Doing so will not only help to improve your mood but can also increase productivity,” comments Maria Namestnikova, Head of GReAT Russia, Kaspersky.
In terms of the campaign “Pain in the Neck”, Kaspersky, in collaboration with the well-known blogger, yoga teacher, and personal trainer Shona Vertue, also prepared a short course of simple exercises that can be completed during the installation of updates. The course itself is very simple and can be performed at home by people of all abilities. Link for the video.
The full report is available via this link.
About the survey
In April 2021, Kaspersky commissioned Savanta to conduct an online survey of 15,000 respondents to explore people’s device update tendencies. The sample included 1,000 respondents from each of the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain; and 500 from each of the USA, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Romania, UAE, Turkey, South Africa, China, India, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Russia. All respondents used a PC, smartphone and/or tablet for either their personal or work lives, and 76% of the respondents were currently employed.
About Kaspersky
Kaspersky is a global cybersecurity and digital privacy company founded in 1997. Kaspersky’s deep threat intelligence and security expertise is constantly transforming into innovative security solutions and services to protect businesses, critical infrastructure, governments and consumers around the globe. The company’s comprehensive security portfolio includes leading endpoint protection and a number of specialized security solutions and services to fight sophisticated and evolving digital threats. Over 400 million users are protected by Kaspersky technologies and we help 240,000 corporate clients protect what matters most to them. Learn more at www.kaspersky.com.