As we all accumulate an ever-increasing number of digital accounts, password security is more important than ever. With the advent of password generators and multifactor authentication, attempts are being made to make our online world both safer and more convenient.
However, it seems that, for whatever reasons, many people still aren’t fully onboard and remain tethered to the old ways of password management.
In a hardly surprising answer, over 60% stated that they reuse passwords across multiple accounts. Most did so because they couldn’t be bothered to remember multiple ones (40%), and others didn’t feel as if they were in danger of being hacked (27%). Only 33% said that they didn’t reuse passwords.
Despite the ease of using password generators in today’s online world, a staggering 65% still opted to create their own. Perhaps they are not aware of them, or don’t trust them; or maybe they are worried that if they can’t access their saved passwords, then they would be locked out of their accounts, since they are too complex to memorize.
Of those that did use a generator, most used the one integrated with their browser (15%), whilst others used an online generator (13%) and only a small minority used one from another source (6%).
People’s diligence seemed to vary when it came to crossovers between work and personal passwords: 34% said that they don’t share multiple passwords between the two, and 30% said they sometimes did. Around 20% each said that they often or always did.