Many infosec professionals reuse passwords across multiple accounts

Lastline announced the results of a survey conducted at Infosecurity Europe 2018, which suggests that 45 percent of infosec professionals reuse passwords across multiple user accounts – a basic piece of online hygiene that the infosec community has been attempting to educate the general public about for the best part of a decade.

The research also suggested that 20 percent of security professionals surveyed had used unprotected public WiFi in the past, and 47 percent would be cautious about buying the latest gadgets due to security concerns. “The fact that elements of the security community are not listening to their own advice around security best practices and setting a good example is somewhat worrying,” said Andy Norton, director of threat intelligence at Lastline.

“Breaches are a fact of life for both businesses and individuals now, and reusing passwords across multiple accounts makes it much easier for malicious actors to compromise additional accounts, including access to corporate data, to steal confidential or personal information. The attendees at Infosecurity Europe should be significantly more aware of these issues than the average consumer.”

The survey also identified a shift in the changing attitudes of the security community to cryptocurrency. Similarly to the study conducted at RSAC 2018, 20 percent of survey respondents suggested they would take their salary in cryptocurrency, with a whopping 92 percent of individuals suggesting that they have used cryptocurrency to purchase gift cards.

“Cryptocurrencies are emerging from the murky waters they have occupied since conception, and are getting closer and closer to financial legitimacy,” continued Norton. “In the next few years we are likely to see some of the more mainstream currencies such as Bitcoin being accepted by large online retailers, and generally moving away from their current association with instability and criminality.”