World Password Day is May 4, 2023. And with 80% of hacking-related breaches being linked to passwords, this Intel-conceived annual event, is an opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of strong passwords and fight back against bad actors. It’s a great reminder to take inventory of your accounts and reassess all login credentials–especially financial accounts. Take an extra hard look at account passwords for checking, savings, credit cards, peer-to-peer payment apps and investments.
If there are accounts you haven’t used in a while, consider whether it’s worth keeping them open. The more password-protected accounts you hold, the greater your exposure is to a data breach.
In this episode of Privacy Files, we examine the topic of password security. From longer and more complex passwords, to multifactor authentication and password managers, there are many tools available for upping your password game.
Every study of a topic typically begins with the statistics. And it’s no different here as we highlighted the most interesting facts about passwords.
For instance, 59% of people use their name or birth date in their password. Definitely not a good idea!
Even more fascinating–only 45% of people said they would change a password after a breach.
42% of organizations rely on sticky notes for password management. Again…not a good idea!
One of the more concerning stats is about the reuse of passwords. Almost two-thirds of people use the same password across multiple accounts.
While traditional advice typically includes resetting passwords every so often, more experts are now recommending the use of a password manager to store long and complex passwords that never need to be reset. Combine this approach with multifactor authentication and the security of your accounts should be at their maximum.
In fact, research indicates that multifactor authentication blocks 99.9% of all attacks. Those are pretty convincing results. We also briefly touch on other secure access methods such as biometrics, passkeys, security keys and decentralized identity.
Links Referenced:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/netflix-password-crackdown-timeline-sharing-paid-earnings-q1-2023/
https://www.foxnews.com/tech/ai-tech-can-crack-common-passwords-stunning-speed-researchers-find
https://www.comparitech.com/blog/information-security/password-statistics/
