Passwords are a problem that big tech is trying to solve, but they are still essential to accessing almost anything online. It's 2022 and users still don't change their passwords after a breach and then continue to use the same password to access multiple websites.
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SpyCloud, a security firm, points out in a new report how people continue to use the same passwords across multiple online accounts. Based on 1.7 billion username and password combinations it collected from 755 sources leaked in 2021, it estimates that 64% of people used the same password that was exposed in a breach on another account.
Reused passwords are a serious security problem because if a password is compromised once, then hackers can use it to access other accounts if it has been used as a login to another website.
Also, users continue to choose “bad passwords.” This habit is very classic, with the top examples remaining “123456,” “qwerty,” “admin,” and “password.”.
SpyCloud, which focused on reused passwords, found a rise in passwords based on content from online streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+ (movies, series, etc.).
See also: Warning to remote workers: Don't save passwords in browsers
Of the passwords it collected in publicly available breaches from 2021 and earlier, 64% were used on multiple sites.
SpyCloud's definition of password "reuse" is a bit vague and only shows possible trends. For example, it counts as reuse instances credentials it collected in a breach at one point in time that were observed in subsequent breaches it had access to. This doesn't mean that people reused the same password after a given point in time (the time of the breach) but that the same password was observed in multiple data breaches.
See also: BHUNT malware: The new threat targeting crypto wallets and passwords
While the statistics are imprecise, the company points to a trend we're all familiar with. That means people have so many online accounts that they can't remember different passwords, and most people don't use password managers for Windows, macOS, and Android.
Information source: zdnet.com
