The current level of cyber hygiene is quite worrying, according to a cyber firm.
Stephen Bradford, SVP EMEA at SailPoint said: “We’d never think of leaving our house door unlocked or inviting a stranger in in for a cup of tea. Why do we treat our digital workspaces, both personal and professional, any differently? By easily giving away passwords or inadvertently inviting malicious actors in through unsecure WiFi connections, we are exposing ourselves to serious risk.
“Each of us must ask ourselves, ‘who am I in contact with and how far can my passwords spread?’ Businesses need to get a grip on the issue now before it spreads by stepping up their cybersecurity defences and training for staff. As the pressures of work and personal lives in the pandemic test our ability to multitask, existing cybersecurity training and processes typically aren’t enough. Innovative, predictive AI-enabled identity security technology is key to protecting people from making human errors, potentially leading to increased risk of cyberattacks and data leaks. If we aren’t careful, we could be facing a security crisis in the digital world.”
The identity management product company commissioned a poll of 2000 UK people. Some four in ten (41pc) of us use unsecure public WiFi when working, and 44pc use unsecure connections when surfing the web for personal needs, creating the cyber firm says a ‘cyber bubble’ of complete strangers. Generation Z and the tail end of millennials (those aged 18 to 24) are much more carefree about their digital safety, as over a third (39pc) admit to sharing their passwords and compromising their cyber bubbles in other ways, the survey suggests.
Only one in five of those polled have changed work passwords within the last month. Four in ten, 43pc haven’t changed their passwords in over six months, while a few of us aren’t actually authorised to do so (9pc) or the computer isn’t password protected in the first place (4pc); basic steps, as the firm says. The poll also suggests that about one in ten (9pc) of work computers are being used by Brits for many of their personal needs, typically to check personal email and news, and to do online shopping.
More on the SailPoint blog.
