Brits put finances at risk through lax online security
Thursday, 02 February 2012 05:05
Updated research on our online security habits shows that Brits are putting their finances at risk by using the same password for multiple online accounts.
The study by esure home insurance found that ten per cent of UK residents have had their accounts hacked into in the past year and 24 per cent keep all of their passwords in one place.
The research states that the average person has to use a password up to 11 times a day but that 20 per cent of Brits use the same password for multiple accounts. Almost 20 per cent use their mothers’ maiden name to access their accounts.
Nikki Sellers, Head of Home Underwriting at esure, said: "The number of passwords needed to navigate modern life is constantly increasing and this has led many Brits to taking serious security risks.
The survey reveals that people are even more careless when it comes to pin numbers. 14 per cent use their birthday whilst ten per cent opt for the convenience of a simple combination such as ‘1234’ and 17 per cent of respondents said that they kept the letter sent by the bank with their pin number printed on.
Despite the risk of fraud, almost half, 48 per cent keep passwords written down on paper, stored on computer or on their mobile phone. Despite trying to simplify things, Brits on average have lost access to three online accounts.
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