Majority of Americans Recycle Passwords Up to Four Times

Seventy-two percent of respondents in a survey say they recycle passwords, leaving them vulnerable to cyber attacks.

Of those seventy-two percent:

56 percent of baby-boomers recycle passwords.
70 percent of Generation X recycles passwords.
76 percent of Millennials recycle passwords.

Even more concerning is that of those seventy-two percent of respondents, passwords are recycled up to four times. Additionally:

63 percent of respondents use the same password for entertainment and important business, banking and medical transactions.
18 percent share their passwords with other people. The 18 percent might have to do with people sharing login credentials for streaming apps such as Netflix, Hulu and more.

When it comes to storing passwords, people believe best methods of storage are memory (38 percent), password management app (27 percent), physical notebook (26 percent), note app (6 percent) and sticky note (3 percent). Although 38 percent say memory is the best way to store passwords, 54 percent of them occasionally forgot their passwords.

Although the frequency of data breaches are increasing, only 30 percent of respondents are aware of their data being breached and 89 percent of them have changed their passwords after learning about their data being compromised.

ON DEMAND: Business-impacting events such as severe weather, man-made disasters, and supply chain disruption are increasing in frequency and making impacts around the globe.

Employees don’t feel prepared to navigate an increasingly dangerous world, and they expect their employers to not only care about their personal safety, but to actively keep them safe.