40 Percent Of Young Adults Share Passwords
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A study done by AVG has found that four in ten young adults are sharing passwords with friends and family.
AVG’s study was commissioned to highlight the dangers of ‘status jacking’, with the research showing the degree to which young adults in Australia, UK, and the US secure the devices that they use to access social networks.
 
The company has found that while 78 percent of 18-25 year olds secure their laptops with a password, less than half (48.3 percent) password protect their mobiles. In addition, barely 25 percent put any kind of password security on their handheld devices, such as iPads or Blackberrys.
 
While three of four users under 25 are aware of the need to use different passwords across different social networks, four in ten users in Australia and the UK share passwords with friends and family. In the US, the figure rose to over one in three (35 percent).
 
Peter Cameron, Managing Director of AVG (AU/NZ), says that it is concerning that many people share passwords.
 
“The fact that most young adults secure their laptops and PCs is positive news, but the most worrying statistic is that four in ten share their passwords, something we do not advise doing. Sharing your passwords can leave your social networks open to status jacking and leaves your other online accounts, such as banking, vulnerable to attack.”
 
AVG has advised users to secure their handheld and mobile devices as more and more people are accessing social networks via these devices.