Weak passwords make you an easy target for cyber criminals

BANGALORE, INDIA: Statistics show that password theft is a common occurrence. But a recent survey conducted by Kaspersky Lab and B2B International says that one in five Internet users assume their passwords are of no value to cyber criminals.

“Even if you are not a celebrity or a billionaire, cybercriminals can profit from your credentials,” said Elena Kharchenko, Head of Consumer Product Management, Kaspersky Lab. “A password is like a key to your home; you wouldn’t leave your door on the latch, or put your keys where anyone could find them, just because you don’t think you have anything of great value.”

Passwords are the keys to the account holders’ personal data, private lives, and even their money – and if they are stolen the consequences can affect not only individual users, but also their contacts.

A compromised e-mail gives scammers access to every account that the user has connected to it, thanks to the messages it receives notifying of successful registrations or responses to password recovery requests. In turn, a compromised account on a social networking site makes it possible to spread spam advertising and malicious links. A password to an account with an online store gives cybercriminals an opportunity to harvest financial data and spend other people's money.

However, users often take the easy way out when creating and storing their passwords. The survey shows that Only 26 percent of users create a separate password for each account while 6 percent of respondents use special password storage software. 18 percent of those surveyed write down their passwords in a notebook, 11 percent store them in a file on the device, and 10 percent leave them on a sticker near the computer. At the same time 17 percent of users freely share their personal account passwords with family members and friends.

To protect your account against unauthorized entry, you should follow a few simple rules:

• Create a unique password for each account: if one of them is stolen, the rest will remain safe.
• Create a complex password that won’t be easy to crack even using special programs. That means at least 8 symbols including upper and lower-case letters, numbers, punctuation marks, and no pet names or dates of birth!
• Do not give your password to anyone, not even your friends. If cybercriminals can’t steal it from your device, they might be able do it from someone else’s.
• Store your password in a safe place. Don’t write it down on paper; either remember it or use a special program for storing passwords from a reliable security vendor.