Brits make it easy for others to find out passwords

With so many people having broadband many people now access a range of important services online using passwords, but a recent survey has revealed that many Brits may be putting their passwords at risk.

It has been claimed following a recent survey that many Brits are making their security passwords easily available online by choosing obvious passwords and using the same password for a range of different accounts and services. With so many people now having broadband many people use a range of services online, such as online banking, and these require the user to create a password.

A study was carried out by the credit reference agency Experian and involved polling two thousand British adults. The results of the survey showed that a massive fifty one percent of adults used the same online password for some or all of their online accounts, which means that if someone works out the password for one of their accounts they can then access all of them.

The survey also found that three of the most popular passwords used by British consumers online were all very obvious ones, and these were town of birth, past schools, and date of birth –all information that many people freely put on sites such as social networking sites for all the world to see.

There are concerns that by making passwords so readily available to others consumers are not heeding warnings over fraud, and with so much identity fraud having taken place over recent years officials have warned that consumers need to be far more vigilant and careful with their online accounts.

Source – Broadband Choice