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Broadband users 'making it easy' for online fraudsters
Wednesday 11th March 2009, by Daniel King
A "worrying" number of broadband users are failing to realise the risks involved by failing to protect their identities online, new research suggests.
According to a survey by IT security and control firm Sophos, only 19 per cent of web surfers said they would use unique passwords for each different website they visited.
Furthermore, a third of those polled admitted to using the same password for multiple sites "all the time".
This comes despite a spate of recent cyberattacks, which have seen fraudsters crack password security to gain access to webmail and social networking accounts.
In order to better protect themselves from the threat and avoid having their online accounts compromised, it is vital that computer users choose strong and unique passwords for each site they visit, Sophos has warned.
Senior technology consultant at the firm Graham Cluley said: "With social networking and other internet accounts now even more popular, there's plenty on offer for hackers and by using the same password to access Facebook, Amazon and your online bank account, you're making it much easier for them."
He added that once one password has been compromised, it is "only a matter of time" before hackers are able to gain access to other accounts and steal sensitive information for financial gain.
The caution comes after Tony Neate, managing director of Get Safe Online, advised that all businesses in the UK should provide training and guidelines for employees to alert them to online security issues.
He claimed that training workers to be aware of the threats involved when using the internet should be "a big thing" for companies, particularly during the current financial climate when firms cannot afford to lose money to cybercriminals.
Categories: Broadband, Internet Security
