# What the public knows about Cyber security. Quiz **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 11, 2017, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-public-knows-about-cyber-security-quiz/784234 "2017-04-11T13:58:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-public-knows-about-cyber-security-quiz/784234/1 "2017-04-11T13:58:10Z")
Only 10 questions about Cyber security but surprisingly difficult. I missed three. One by rushing and didn’t think it through. The VPN question, I misunderstood their answer. I use VPN’s and certainly know what they are. Their scoring is a bit odd. They say I got 91%. Obviously not a true test percentage. > [@](#): > > You scored better than 91% of the public, below 9% of the public and the same as 7%. How did you do? Quiz is at the bottom of the page under materials. > **[What the Public Knows About Cybersecurity](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2017/03/22/what-the-public-knows-about-cybersecurity/)** > > A majority of internet users can answer fewer than half the questions correctly on a difficult knowledge quiz about cybersecurity issues and concepts. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-public-knows-about-cyber-security-quiz/784234/2 "2017-04-11T14:05:23Z")
It’s worth reading the test results and correct answers. The public really should know this material. I’m kicking myself for not getting 10 out of 10. Next time I’ll drink my morning coffee before I take a test. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-public-knows-about-cyber-security-quiz/784234/3 "2017-04-11T14:16:38Z")
10 out of 10. But 91% isn’t your grade. You scored better than 91% of those who took the quiz. That’s not a grade. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-public-knows-about-cyber-security-quiz/784234/4 "2017-04-11T14:36:56Z")
It’s a bit disturbing to realize how badly their test sample did. I carelessly missed 3 out of 10 and still did better than 91% of the sample. ??? 13, I only got asked 10. 😃 now I wonder what the other 3 questions were. > [@](#): > > However, the typical (median) respondent answered only five of these 13 knowledge questions correctly (with a mean of 5.5 correct answers). One-in-five (20%) answered more than eight questions accurately, and just 1% received a “perfect score” by correctly answering all 13 questions. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-public-knows-about-cyber-security-quiz/784234/5 "2017-04-11T15:15:00Z")
7 out of 10. Two of the missed ones were derps. The last one, about VPNs, was just a NOPE no matter what. D’oh! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-public-knows-about-cyber-security-quiz/784234/6 "2017-04-11T15:22:16Z")
10 out of 10, but I work in IT. Of course, we all scored zero, because question 0 is “should you ever click on a quiz link on a public message board?” ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-public-knows-about-cyber-security-quiz/784234/7 "2017-04-11T16:26:30Z")
I got 8 out of 10 (better than 96% of the public sample), which makes me think that the public must be awfully stoopid. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-public-knows-about-cyber-security-quiz/784234/8 "2017-04-11T17:50:15Z")
10/10, in the top 1% of people who know basic cyber stuff ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-public-knows-about-cyber-security-quiz/784234/9 "2017-04-11T18:06:03Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > 10 out of 10, but I work in IT. > > Of course, we all scored zero, because question 0 is “should you ever click on a quiz link on a public message board?” Great point! I got 10, but I do security for a living. ---
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-public-knows-about-cyber-security-quiz/784234/10 "2017-04-11T18:22:20Z")
Got 9 out of 10 right, better than 99% of the population. The one I failed was the last one, the one about VPNs. ---
**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-public-knows-about-cyber-security-quiz/784234/11 "2017-04-11T18:24:53Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > 10 out of 10, but I work in IT. > > Of course, we all scored zero, because question 0 is “should you ever click on a quiz link on a public message board?” I got 9 out of 10, missing the last question about VPNs. I looked at the URL (the actual URL, not the text shown in the post) before clicking. I know that [pewinternet.org](http://pewinternet.org) is a legitimate site so that main risk I was taking would be if the site had been hacked. A risk, yes, but that could happen to any site so the only way to completely mitigate that risk is to stop using the internet. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-public-knows-about-cyber-security-quiz/784234/12 "2017-04-11T18:26:26Z")
10/10 ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-public-knows-about-cyber-security-quiz/784234/13 "2017-04-11T19:26:16Z")
8 out of 10. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-public-knows-about-cyber-security-quiz/784234/14 "2017-04-11T19:37:47Z")
I got 10/10, but saw this message: > [@](#): > > You scored better than 100% of the public of the public and the same as 1%. I think the writer needs to work on their math skills. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-public-knows-about-cyber-security-quiz/784234/15 "2017-04-11T21:08:14Z")
Rounding errors are your friend. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-public-knows-about-cyber-security-quiz/784234/16 "2017-04-11T21:38:10Z")
You scored better than 100% of the public of the public and the same as 1%. I don’t work in IT or Security, but they’ll come around and thrash me if I get this sort of thing wrong, so… ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-public-knows-about-cyber-security-quiz/784234/17 "2017-04-11T21:42:32Z")
I got 9/10 but their given answer for the first question is incorrect. HTTPS means that the link between you and the site is encrypted. An HTTPS website can still store information locally unencrypted. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-public-knows-about-cyber-security-quiz/784234/18 "2017-04-11T22:24:29Z")
I disagree with their answer to question 2 (and yeah, I did get it wrong - why do you ask? ;)). In my mind, “phishing” attacks are strictly those intended to extract login and password information by deception, not any and all attempts to install malware by impersonating a trusted source, and only the ‘fake website’ out of their three answers would necessarily do that - the other answers might just give you a virus. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phishing)agrees with me and hey, how much more authoritative can you get! 8/10, but I’m going to pretend it was 9/10 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-public-knows-about-cyber-security-quiz/784234/19 "2017-04-12T00:55:31Z")
10/10 But I also passed the Security+ exam last month and there were many more questions. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2017, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-public-knows-about-cyber-security-quiz/784234/20 "2017-04-12T01:03:48Z")
The VPN one is the only one I got wrong. It was between two answers for me, and I chose the wrong one. I have nothing to do with cybersecurity or computers professionally, but I found this test fairly easy. That said, I read enough on the Dope and elsewhere that most of this stuff is discussed somewhere or another. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-public-knows-about-cyber-security-quiz/784234.md?page=2)