Security risk for internet users

A new study conducted by IT security and control firm Sophos, has found that 33 percent of internet users use the same password for multiple website accounts, putting them at risk to hackers and identity thieves.

Sophos is urging computer uses to assess the strength of their passwords and ensure they are choosing unique and multiple passwords for every account in order to protect their personal and corporate identities.

This comes after news of numerous hackers bypassing password security in order to break into web mail and social networking sites.

“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,” said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.

Sophos advises users to ensure they don’t use dictionary words as passwords as it is easy for hackers to figure out these passwords using electronic dictionaries, trying out every word until they get the right one.

“A good trick is to pick a sentence and just use the first letter of every word to make up your password. To make it even stronger, you can replace words like ‘for’ for the number ‘4’ and this should give you peace of mind that your password won’t be guessed.”

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Related Keywords: Corporate Identities, Internet Users, Password Security, Security Risk, Social Networking Sites

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