To authenticate users in today’s digital world, electronic systems might use a combination of a user name, email address, password/passcode/personal identification number (PIN), the answer to a security question, and other challenges that rely on information the user knows.
In today’s world, weak or reused passwords will not keep you protected. Plus as computer power and connectivity increase, so do the capabilities of hackers looking to crack more accounts.
The cybersecurity/hacking race is neck and neck, with the “good guys” diligently trying to stay a step ahead of the computer-automated dictionary and brute-force capabilities hackers use to breach user identity, accounts, and organizational data repositories.
An effective cybersecurity approach strikes just the right balance between protection and usability. If security procedures become overly intrusive or time-consuming, users are more likely to circumvent them. At the same time, making security standards too simple increases risk.
This gap is reflected in recent studies. For example, it’s estimated that while 93% of people are aware of password security best practices, 84% still admit to reusing passwords across more than one site, according to 2022 research by Bitwarden
.
Who can blame them? Most of us have tens, if not hundreds, of online accounts. Even people with impeccable memories find it impossible to remember complex strings of random information that can be 10 characters or longer, without a memorable pattern.
WebTribunal.net, an independent review site for tech, financial, and business-related services, reported the following
eye-opening statistics in April 2022 that further illustrate what we’re up against:
The password "123456" is now used by more than 23 million people.
Compromised credentials are the most common cause of malicious attacks, accounting for 61% of breaches.
59% of Americans use a person’s name or a family member's birthday as a password.
Two out of every five people have had their identities hacked, passwords compromised, or sensitive information breached because of duplicate and outdated passwords.