A third of web users have admitted to using the same password for a number of different websites, says Sophos.
According to the security firm, just 19 percent never use the same password twice. Sophos added that three years ago, 41 percent of web users said they used the same password, indicating that just 8 percent of web users have realised the importance of strong, unique passwords.
"It's worrying that in three years very few computer users seem to have woken up to the risks of using weak passwords and the same ones for every site they visit," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.
"With social networking and other internet accounts now even more popular, there's plenty on offer for hackers and by using the same password to access Facebook, Amazon and your online bank account, you're making it much easier for them. Once one password has been compromised, it's only a matter of time before the fraudsters will be able to gain access to your other accounts and steal information for financial gain."
"It's easy to understand why computer users pick dictionary words as they're much easier to remember. A good trick is to pick a sentence and just use the first letter of every word to make up your password. To make it even stronger, you can replace words like 'for' for the number 4, and this should give you peace of mind that your password won't be guessed," advised Cluley.
Comments
Graham Cluley, Sophos said: Thanks for writing about this important security issue Carrie-AnnWeve had a number of people asking how they are supposed to remember lots of different passwords - even if they do follow your advice above about how to produce a harder-to-guess passwordSo as well as releasing the research we also produced a short and non-salesy video explaining what people should do to create a hard-to-crack password and how you could remember passwords on many websitesYou are welcome to embed the video on your own website if you likevimeocom3546084Hope that helpsGraham