Britons remain hugely vulnerable to external online threats despite the increased number of security breaches in the last year, it is claimed. To mark the year anniversary of the Heartbleed bug, Dashlane, a password management and digital wallet service, anonymously analysed whether internet users were taking their online security more seriously in the wake of what was termed “the most dangerous security flaw on the web”. The research has revealed that very few Brits have taken any significant action in response.
According to Dashlane, over half (52 per cent) of UK-based users have not changed any of their passwords at all since April 2014. This means that they could potentially still be vulnerable to hackers who exploited the Heartbleed bug. Internet users in both France and the UK have responded more proactively, with around 60pc of users in the US and 51% in France changing at least one password. Also, the levels of security are even lower on the world’s top 100 websites. An average of only six percent of users have changed their passwords on these sites since Heartbleed was discovered last April.
Heartbleed affected over 500,000 websites and dominated the news globally for weeks. Internet users were urged to change their passwords by everyone from banks to online retailers. The threat was so severe that the Cabinet Office felt compelled to issue advice to the public through the media.
Dashlane CEO Emmanuel Schalit said: “Everyone in the digital world needs to know that they are their own first line of defense when it comes to online security. Much work remains in educating the public about the dangers that exist online. Attacks such as Heartbleed are becoming more commonplace, and larger in scale, and it’s critical that everyone is aware and educated about the threats as they affect all of us.
There is without a doubt a role for governments and technology companies to play in making the online world safer for everyone, but the benefits these organizations can provide are marginal if you are not educated about the threats that exist and the actions you should take personally.”
Of those Dashlane users who did change their passwords, social networking site Tumblr was the most commonly changed password, ahead of PayPal, and even banking sites such as HSBC and Santander.
