EMC and RSA announced the Online Identity Risk Calculator, a free interactive assessment tool for PC and mobile device users designed to help educate consumers about their personal exposure to online threats.

The Online Identity Risk Calculator engages consumers to respond to 10 simple questions designed to calculate an individual's personal online identity risk score (ranging from 0-100). Participants answer questions about online activities such as banking, gaming, shopping, mobile app usage, social networking, email and more.

Participants using the Online Identity Risk Calculator contribute anonymous demographic data along with answers about their online behavior.

As much as the Online Risk Calculator helps users determine their own personal exposure to potential risks, it also serves to educate consumers about specific online threats and how everyday behavior may increase or decrease exposure to cyber threats such as phishing, identity theft and malware infection via mobile apps and social networks.

Initial results

To date, close to 2,000 individuals ages 18 and older across 65 countries have used the Online Identity Risk Calculator to determine their risk profile. Of the participants, 33% were female and 67% were male. Overall, the average risk score for all participants was 33, with the average for females being 34 and the average for males being 33.

Young adults age 18-24 indicate the riskiest behavior online when it comes to sharing information on social networks (use 3 to 5 social networks), and on average the highest mobile application downloads (5 to 10 or more app downloads). Online banking was a common risk activity for both males and females alike, with 60 percent of respondents accessing their banking online once a week or more.

Female participants in the U.S. additionally ran into risks with lower frequency for monitoring personal credit reports (Once every 3 to 6 months), while their male counterparts saw increased risk scores in the area of mobile app downloads (5 to 10 or more app downloads).

Average risk scores varied significantly by country. Of the 20 countries with the greatest number of respondents, the highest average risk scores came from those in Egypt, Great Britain, and Afghanistan, while the lowest average risk scores came from participants in Israel, Italy, and Japan. The activities among all participants that affect the greatest potential user exposure to online threats were tied to email, online banking, mobile apps, and social networks.