A report of a survey (n=1,041) reveals that 70% of respondents said they reuse the same password for multiple websites.
The numbers above from our recent survey of 1,041 adults age 18 or older in the US say it all. A full 70% of the respondents admitted they use the same password for more than one thing—sometimes (25%), most of the time (24%), or all of the time (21%). If you don’t know why that’s bad, read on: When someone gets your password for just one service, they have your password for everything. Since most online accounts assign your email address as a username, it doesn’t take Mr. Robot to crack that code.
One of our recurring tips for Security Friday is to use a password manager. This helps you easily create unique, secure passwords for anything.
Check It Out: 70% of People use the Same Password for Multiple Websites
Andrew:
Yeah, but if I don’t tell anyone what my password is, and keep it really, really SECRET…oh, bugger!
Sadly, now using predictive algorithms in machine learning, aided by social engineering (eg relationships, which the bad guys have likely already stolen) it is becoming easier to figure out, based on even one password choice, what other self-selected passwords are likely to be.
Using current tech, practically any password can be defeated. It’s not a question of being unbreakable, but being harder to break than the other guys’.
Siri now alerts you as to whether or not a password has appeared on a hacked list, and suggests that you change it ASAP (recently on my password for this site).
All the more reason to let one’s AI randomly select and store one’s passwords.
Child’s play to make them. Slightly more than child’s play to break them.
I am in the 25%.
Do I really care that I use the same password for commenting here and at Macrumors?
Exactly! I have different passwords for my bank, insurance, medical records and other such important websites.