Many users still use only one password for all accounts, Kaspersky Lab

Testing of user cyber savviness carried out by Kaspersky Lab has demonstrated that many people are still not sufficiently careful about their passwords. Only 38% create strong new passwords for each account, while one in seven (14%) has just one password for all accounts. These users risk having several accounts simultaneously compromised in the event of a data leak.

The level of risk is not much lower for those who use just a few passwords for a larger number of accounts (36%) and those who use variations of the same password pattern

(12%). What further complicates the situation is that, according to another Kaspersky Lab

survey, one user in 10 comes up with passwords that are less than eight characters in

length, while 12% do not try to make their passwords more difficult to guess by using, for

instance, upper-case letters, numbers mixed with letters, punctuation signs or other similar

tricks.

To make matters worse, the study also revealed that consumers are putting the safety at risk by storing their passwords in easy to access or unsecure places. Over half (57%) of respondents admitted they kept their passwords on a piece of paper, on their phones, in text files on their computers, or saved them in the browser. And when the browser offers to save a login and password, a third (36%) are ready to agree, thus playing into the hands of

cybercriminals or dishonest people who may get hold of their device.

This careless attitude towards passwords can be explained by many users being convinced

they have no confidential information stored on their computers. This is what 27% of

respondents believe, without realizing that passwords and logins are in themselves a favorite target of cybercriminals. In addition, one more Kaspersky Lab’s recent study showed that 73% of users would rather reveal their passwords than go without underwear.

As a result, an alarming 25% of those users surveyed have had their accounts hijacked in the last year.

“Unfortunately, many people don’t have a very good understanding of the scale of Internet

threats and are not serious enough about protecting their personal data online, significantly increasing the risk of losing it,” explains David Emm, Principal Security Researcher at

Kaspersky Lab. “A strong password that differs for each account is an important basic element of protecting your digital identity. You can think of and apply a single algorithm to

create passwords which are not easily cracked but which you can easily remember. There

are also special programs that make creating and storing passwords easier.”

Dealing with passwords can be made much easier with Kaspersky Password Manager,

which is included in Kaspersky Total Security – Multi-Device. Kaspersky Password Manager creates strong passwords, stores them securely, and automatically synchronizes and inserts passwords on all of the user’s devices.

Are you good at protecting yourself online? Take the test at https://blog.kaspersky.com/cyber-savvy-quiz/.