Password promiscuity puts Brits at risk of cyber-fraud

Over 1.7 million Brits risk being caught out by cyber-criminals because they use the same password for all their online accounts.

New research found that nearly half (46%) of UK adults use the same password to log in to banking, shopping, and social networking sites.

A further 54% confessed to using variations of the same password across all sites.

Nearly one in seven (68%) claimed it is too difficult to remember multiple passwords.

This blasé approach puts consumers at risk of identity fraud and of having funds stolen from their bank account, authors of the research warned.

One in ten people have had their web accounts accessed by fraudsters, with the majority (57%) of these attacks occuring in the last year.

Nearly one in five (18%) of these had goods illegally bought in their name, while one in eight had money stolen.

“No sensible person would use the same key for their house, car and garage,” said Sarah Blaney, identity theft expert at CPP, who conducted the research.

“In the same way, we shouldn’t use the one password for everything.

“If possible people should use multiple passwords with a combination of letters and numbers, which should be difficult to crack.”

Reformed hacker Robert Schifreen, who was the first person in the world to face a jury trial for hacking into a computer system, advised consumers to use a different password for every online account.

“Use a different password for every online system that you sign up to,” Schifreen said.

“Otherwise, an online fraudster who manages to find your single password will have the keys to your entire online life.”