Password security is 'slack'

A security firm has warned that people are putting themselves at risk of identity fraud with their choice of passwords.

Choosing something obvious, such as a pet's name, your mother's maiden name or the name of your favourite sports team is just one of the traps you might have unwittingly fallen into.

Research from McAfee has found that nearly a quarter of us always use the same password to access all of our online accounts, and 30 per cent only have a password of six characters or less.

"The sheer number of passwords needed means many people are resorting to using few and obvious passwords. We want to help people understand the consequences of this behaviour," said McAfee's Greg Day.

Though many cybercriminals use tactics such as phishing, which trick you into telling them your personal data, other attacks still rely on password cracking. By choosing guessable passwords, surfers can make the jobs of these criminals too easy.

Mathew Bevan, an ex-hacker, said: "People that use one simple password that is easy to guess are just making cybercriminals' lives easy... it's like leaving your car keys in the ignition. They simply aren't taking online security seriously enough."

And it isn't just the security of our desktop computers that has caused concern, but our mobile phones as well.

Sixty-one per cent of people don't use a PIN code to protect their mobile phones and of those who do have one, more than three-quarters don't change it.

"What most people don't think about [when their phone is stolen] is the information that they have stored on their phone, such as online passwords or personal data – leaving this information unprotected means you are putting your online identity at risk," said Jan Volzke of McAfee.

www.mcafee.com

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