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In the lead-up to the busy Christmas shopping period, a new survey has revealed the security habits of online shoppers.
And while the survey polled only US and UK shoppers, the results are nonetheless informative of broader trends locally and abroad.
The survey, conducted by hardware authentication company Yubico, found that while 80 per cent of those polled are concerned about the security of their online accounts, 39 per cent of people are still using the same password across multiple logins.
The age breakdown of password reuse is also surprising – only 20 per cent of Baby Boomers reuse their passwords, while 47 per cent of Millennials use the same passwords.
Boomers are also more protective of their credit cards. Just 19 per cent of Boomers keep their credit card details saved in various online accounts, compared to 37 per cent of Millennials.
However, boomers are less confident when it comes to their ability to spot a fake online retailer. Forty-two per cent of Boomers don’t feel they can spot a fake, compared to 29 per cent of Millennials. The most confident age cohort is Gen Z, though, with just 23 per cent of those born between 1981 and 1996 feeling they lack the skills to spot a fake online storefront.
While practically everyone polled showed some degree of concern over security, slightly less than half do not use any form of multifactor authentication (MFA). Again, the age split is present, though not quite so stark – 47 per cent of Boomers don’t use MFA, compared with 52 per cent of Millennials.
With Christmas coming up, Ben Eichorst, director of infrastructure security at Yubico, feels it’s a good time to get more secure.
“Ninety-six per cent of respondents in our study plan to shop online between October and December, which makes now an ideal time to review online security habits,” Eichorst said in a statement.
“While it is technically easy for retailers to implement basic username and password authentication for their customers, these types of credentials alone are easy for attackers to circumvent, allowing unauthorised access to online accounts.
“During busy online shopping months, consumers may be tempted to adopt risky habits such as reusing passwords across services or clicking on order information links that appear legitimate. These kinds of behaviours put consumers at a higher risk for their accounts to be compromised.”
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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