In the News
The latest report on passwords is in, and the results are critical. In Introducing the 3rd Annual Global Password Security Report by LastPass, Amber Steel at LastPass discusses how password trends and complications have evolved over the past year. Specifically, Steel explains that the use of password managers and multi-factor authentication has increased, but the prevalence of reusing a password across multiple accounts and platforms is still rather high. To illustrate this prevalence, Steel details that employees typically use the same password 13 times. Steel furthers that the statistics found by LastPass show a positive change in privacy, but that continuous improvement across the board is necessary.
Our Take
Annual reports provide crucial insight into the changes that occurred within a particular industry over the course of the year. The Global Password Security Report by LastPass offers essential information regarding the trends in password use as well as statistics about improvements in password security. With the integration of new digital platforms, systems, and accounts continuously in society, the use of multiple passwords had become a requirement for participating in these modern systems. However, when one is required to create an account for almost everything that they do online, the temptation of merely using the same password is ever–present. What this report shows is that despite the alternative options for securing your various accounts such as multi-factor authentication and password managers, many individuals still reuse their passwords for a high amount of different accounts. While this may be the most comfortable option for remembering your passwords, reusing passwords frequently severely compromises your account security. If you reuse passwords and one account is breached, you could potentially be facing a breach across every account that uses that password.
Recommendations
How can you protect the security of your online accounts?
- Use safe password practices, and take advantage of Multi-factor Authentication where possible
- Take advantage of Multi-factor Authentication where possible
- Utilize additional security/privacy measures and settings on apps, accounts, and platforms whenever possible
- Comply with requests to update your accounts, passwords, or any operating system