USERS of technology must be smarter and avoid being victims of cyber crime, the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT) has said.

Those who have made the Internet and mobile telephones part of their daily lives must also be educated on the dangers of having one's life easily accessible, the TATT said on Wednesday.

The burgeoning use of social media and the associated crimes earlier this year led to the formation of a Cyber Crime Unit  of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service.

Speaking at the 11th annual ICT Open Forum at the TATT's Barataria headquarters, TATT chairman Selby Wilson said the agency has recognised its own responsibility to educate and to provide a platform for discussion on the issue.

According to TATT's quarterly market update, up to the end of March 2012, there were over 206,000 fixed Internet subscriptions in T&T.

Globally, 5.5 billion cyber attacks were blocked in 2011, compared to three billion in 2010 and 4,595 Web attacks are blocked each day. In 2011, 403 million unique malware  variants were generated, compared to 208 million in 2010.

There is also an overall e-mail virus rate of one in every 239.

Whilst there may be the perception that only upper management tends to be targeted in the corporate world, 58 per cent of attacks were detected among other staff, such as sales, HR, media and public relations and executive assistants.

"It is also interesting to note that the range of professionals targeted often have a significant number of e-mail interactions with entities external to their organisations," Wilson said.

As part of a drive to educate on cyber crime, started in earnest in 2009, the Authority has to date produced a 45-minute video entitled Cyberdanger, which can be viewed on YouTube on the Internet.

The video is a drama/discussion type production that looks closely at the issue surrounding use of the Internet and related technology by young people.

The Authority also regularly conducts lectures on Internet security at its compound, for pupils and teachers, parent/teacher groups and youth organisations.