For about six years, we have discussed the use of passwords. Or their lack of use! 🙁 Now we ask, are things better today? And we present the highlights from a new study on American password security .
In reverse order by age, we urge you to read at least a couple of these posts:
- Online Security Means Many Things
- Build Stronger Passwords NOW
- Avoid Risky Password Behavior
- Managing Your Passwords Well?
- More Hacker-Proof Passwords
- Is Your PIN Secure Enough?
- 20 Tips for Being Safer Online
Password definitions:
From TechTarget — “A string of characters used to verify the identity of a user during the authentication process. Typically used in conjuncture with a username. Designed to be known only to the user. And allow that user to gain access to a device, application, or Web site. Passwords can vary in length. Further, they contain letters, numbers and special characters. When the password uses only numbers instead of a mix of characters, we call it a personal identification number.”
From Techopedia — “One of the most used tools with digital and computing appliances. Generally, used in combination with a user name. And in most cases, a person must provide both to gain access. In most applications and services, users create their passwords, sometimes for each different system or service used.”
New Study on American Password Security
Given the constant cybertheft of both people’s and company information, how much do we care about password security?
To address this subject, Varonis (a security firm) surveyed Americans. As Rob Sobers reports:
“While cyberattacks are top-of-mind for many Americans, first-hand experiences and worry about imminent attacks doesn’t seem to get people to change their digital habits. The Pew Research Center reports that the majority of Americans have personally experienced a major data breach and even anticipate an attack within the next five years. Yet, most adults surveyed still seem largely unconcerned with personal password safety.”
“The most common reason users change their passwords is because they’ve simply forgotten their current one. Half of people surveyed cited this as the most common reason to change a password. In contrast, despite the increasing amount of hacks in the news cycle, only 1 in 5 Americans said they change their password as a result of a hack in the news.”
Learn more from the following infographic.
