Despite the increase in the number of cyberattacks over the past 18 months, employees working from home still practice poor password hygiene, according to a new report from LogMeIn's LastPass. To compile its fourth global "Password Psychology" report, the password management company commissioned market research firm Lab42 to survey 3.750 professionals from a wide variety of industries in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Singapore, France and India. According to the report, while 92% of respondents are aware that using the same password or some variation of it is a risk, 65% still reuse passwords across their accounts. While consumers have a solid understanding of password strength and the steps they should take to minimize risk, they still choose the information to which they apply that knowledge. LastPass has also found that most users create passwords that exploit personal information that may be related to public data, such as a birthday or personal address. Malgré makes it clear that 79% of the people questioned agree that the mots de passe compromis are a problem, plus the moitié d'entre eux comptent toujours sur leur mémoire pour garder une trace des mots de passe plutôt that d'utiliser a gestionnaire de password.
More time online equals higher risk
As the pandemic has led people to spend more time online, 91% of those surveyed said they have created at least one new account this year. In fact, 90 percent of those surveyed now have up to 50 online accounts to remember passwords. The LastPass report also found that nearly half (47%) of respondents had not changed their online security habits when working remotely, and 44% admitted to sharing sensitive information and passwords for their business accounts during this period. This means that nearly half of employees have engaged in risky password behavior when working remotely, and IT administrators are taking this into account when designing their organization's hybrid work policies. Account type also comes into play when consumers create passwords, with 68% saying they would create stronger passwords for financial accounts, while only 32% said they would create stronger passwords for their business accounts. LastPass vice president of product management Dan DeMichele provided more information on the report's findings in a press release, saying, “Our latest report shows the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic amid the increased time we are spending in online, which in turn has increased our vulnerability to potential hackers. As we continue to grow our online presence, we need stronger protection for our online information. One way to combat this is to invest in a password manager that can be used to store your personal and digital information securely. As a business or IT manager, adding an extra layer of security, including multi-factor authentication or single sign-on options, will help ensure that only your employees have access to your information.