Computer users should have IT intervention when setting passwords

Internet users are ‘seriously naïve' when it comes to setting passwords, according to Cyber-Ark.

Cyber-Ark has claimed that the analysis of 28,000 passwords recently stolen from a popular US website and posted on the internet reveals that people ‘are seriously naive when it comes to setting their own passwords' and often take the easy option.

The study by Information Week found that 16 per cent of users used a first name, while 14 per cent relied on keyboard combinations such as ‘1234' or ‘12345678', while ‘QWERTY' and ‘AZERTY' were also popular.

Adam Bosnian, VP products and strategy at Cyber-Ark, claimed that there is a need for IT managers to educate computer users in their organisations about the need for security, even to the extent of setting passwords for staff and then resetting them on a regular basis.

Bosnian said: “This study confirms what we've know for some time here at Cyber-Ark, namely there is a lot of naivety when it comes to password security out there in IT user land.

"It shows how poor password security is in the real world of employees. It also illustrates the need for IT managers plus their staff to seriously educate users about the need for better password security, or even centralise password creation to the IT department as used to happen in the earliest days of computers.”



See original article on scmagazineuk.com