NEWS CATEGORIES:



NEWS ARCHIVE >>
SOFTPEDIA REVIEWS >>
MEET THE EDITORS >>
Home / News / Security

Security


Gmail, Yahoo Messenger, Bank Account - All Sharing the Same Password

Most consumers use the same password for multiple services

By Bogdan Popa, Security and Search Engines Editor

17th of April 2008, 08:32 GMT

Adjust text size:



Enlarge picture
Is there anything more dangerous than using the same password for multiple services, let's say Gmail, Yahoo Messenger, bank account and email, and get hacked?
Well, I don't think so because it only takes a second until you lose your email and you money. And what's worse is that most people do have the same password for several services; following a study conducted by Accenture, their percentage is almost 50 points.

According to Associated Press, Accenture has made the research with the help of 800 respondents who access the web more than twice a week and conduct all kinds of activities, others than checking the email.

"There's a lot of confusion out there - a lot of people don't think there's a problem. There's still the kind of head-in-the-sand situation: 'My identity hasn't been stolen. I don't know anybody who's had their identity stolen. So it must not be happening'," Robert Dyson of Accenture commented according to AP.

The main reason for using the same password for multiple services is that most people are afraid that they may forget the secret combinations so it seems like they're just trying to make their lives easier. However, as I have said, all the hackers need is just a second to break into one of the account and then, to get access to all the services. According to the findings of the study, 70 percent of the respondents living in the UK admitted they don't write down their passwords which, once again, explains the fact that they're using the same password for all their accounts.

A few days ago, security researchers have managed to prove that Microsoft Live Hotmail's CAPTCHA can be hacked in approximately 6 seconds. As you know, a Live account can be used for a large variety of products beside Hotmail so, in case a hacker breaks into the email account, he also gets access to the other services.

TAGS:

security | password | gmail | yahoo
Read by 3,489 user(s) | Add comment | Link to this article TWEET THIS


Article rating:
Good (3.7/5) 7 vote(s)    

Subscribe to news | Print article | Send to friend

© Copyright 2001-2009 Softpedia
Contact:

 

 

SEARCH THE NEWS ARCHIVE :




Today's News
| Yesterday's News | News Archive


MORE RELATED ARTICLES:


Women Would Disclose Their Passwords for a Chocolate Bar

After MasterCard, Visa Gets Scammed Too

Spammers Need Human Workforce to Solve CAPTCHAs

A Client Name Is All You Need to Hack a Sprint Account

User opinions:

No user comments yet.
Be the first to express your opinion using the form below!

Share your opinion:

Your Name:
Your Email Address:
(will not be used for commercial purposes)
Solve this to prove you're not a bot: =
Your review/opinion:

 




Windows tabGames tabDrivers tabMac tabLinux tabScripts tabMobile tabHandheld tabGadgets tabNews tab

SUBMIT PROGRAM   |   ADVERTISE   |   GET HELP   |   SEND US FEEDBACK   |   RSS FEEDS   |   ENTER NEWS SITE   |   ENGLISH BOARD   |   ROMANIAN FORUM