More than 1.7 million Brits are at risk of online fraud as they use the same password for every site they use.
Nearly half (46 per cent) of Brits use the same password for places they need to login to, such as online banking and shopping websites, as well as social networks, according to the research conducted by card insurer CPP.
This is a similar finding to research released earlier in the week by PC Tools, which said that nearly half of men and around of quarter of women used the same password for all their sites.
A fraudster finding out a user's password would have access to an average of 23 sites because of this one password approach, according to the research.
Nearly 40 per cent of adults admitted that at least one other person knew their passwords, such as colleagues and friends, with over a third of these people believing that they may have logged in using their details.
Most of the Brits surveyed (68 per cent) claimed that it was too difficult to remember logins, while 17 per cent said they were worried about forgetting a password and being logged out.
"No sensible person should use the same key for their house, car and garage," said CPP identity theft expert Sarah Blaney in a statement. "In the same way, we shouldn't use the same password for everything."
"If possible, people should use multiple passwords with a combination of letters and numbers, which should be difficult to crack."
One in 10 people already had web accounts accessed, with 57 per cent of attacks happening in the last year. One in 20 reported having their ID stolen.
Around one fifth of the hacked Brits had goods illegally bought in their name, with one in eight having money stolen, the average lost being over 1,000.
-
Zoom exec on making sure we lead the change we want to seeIn-deoth “Some people think diversity is the responsibility of people and HR teams. And it's not.”
-
Opera browser thinks it has the solution to stopping ClickFix malware attacksNews The browser company is targeting a growing source of malicious links with its new Paste Protect feature
-
We need to do something about passwordsPasswords are a fundamental aspect of access security, but recent password leaks have undermined their ability to protect data
-
Dashlane lifts the lid on attack that saw hackers download encrypted user vaultsNews The company said it has now informed all affected customers, and taken action to shut down the operation
-
The NCSC says it’s time to switch to passkeysNews UK security organization calls for companies to step up and offer more secure ways to login
-
AI agents are creating new identity security risks: 1Password wants to solve thatNews The Unified Access system from 1Password will help enterprises manage AI agent access across different devices and users
-
Using AI to generate passwords is a terrible idea, experts warnNews Researchers have warned the use of AI-generated passwords puts users and businesses at risk
-
Researchers called on LastPass, Dashlane, and Bitwarden to up defenses after severe flaws put 60 million users at risk – here’s how each company respondedNews Analysts at ETH Zurich called for cryptographic standard improvements after a host of password managers were found lacking
-
Thousands of exposed civil servant passwords are up for grabs onlineNews While the password security failures are concerning, they pale in comparison to other nations
-
Gen Z has a cyber hygiene problemNews A new survey shows Gen Z is far less concerned about cybersecurity than older generations
