The team behind popular password manager, LastPass have revealed the results of a survey on the frequency of password sharing, and it’s official: the average user does share an overwhelming number of passwords, and they’re doing so with little consideration for their privacy and security.
In fact, 95% of people share up to six passwords with those closest to them, including network, entertainment, financial, business and social logins, despite the majority acknowledging that it is incredibly risky to share these credentials. Most shockingly, only 19% of those surveyed said they don’t share passwords that could potentially compromise their identity or financial information, leaving 81% happy to share those details.
Some of the other illuminating statistics revealed in the survey include:
- 73% of those surveyed admitted that they knew that sharing their passwords is a risky move
- 59% admitted to re-using passwords associated with other accounts
- 40% of those in the 18-29 age bracket are happy to share their passwords with others, dropping to 15% for those aged 30-44 and 6% at 45-59
- 74% share passwords verbally, but worryingly, over 10% share their credentials electronically (typically via email or text message) with little encryption in the way
- Just over a quarter of those surveyed take the necessary steps to reset a password after they’ve shared it with someone else
The motivation behind this research is to promote safer web access and sharing, and the survey certainly does provide a firm nudge to ensure we’re not using shared passwords for accounts that contain anything sensitive.
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