Data breaches spark increased interest in password managers
People have been predicting the death of the password for some time, but it's still the case that most online accounts rely on them, even if supplemented by another feature like 2FA.
A new report from Avira to coincide with World Password Day shows that so far in 2019, there have been at least four major data breaches, each impacting more than 200 million records.
US companies waste over two months a year resetting passwords
To mark today's World Password Day, access and identity management company OneLogin has released a report that shows IT professionals at US companies waste 2.5 months a year resetting internal passwords.
It also finds that almost half of US businesses (44 percent) take up to a month or more to deprovision ex-employees, while 28 percent take a full working week.
Millions of people still have pathetically weak, easily hacked passwords
That people are lazy is not news. Ditto the fact that people like to make things as easy for themselves as possible. These two facts do not work well when it comes to security and passwords, as a new study reveals.
Analysis carried out by the UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) found that huge numbers of people are still -- despite continued advice -- using weak, easy-to-guess passwords to secure their accounts. The most commonly used password on breached accounts was found to be 123456, and there were plenty of others that were similarly insecure. The NCSC, in conjunction with Have I Been Pwned's Troy Hunt, has also published a list of the 100,000 most common passwords globally.
Game of Thrones: 1 in 4 online viewers are watching from an account they don’t pay for
The latest -- and last -- series of the biggest TV show in the world kicked off on Sunday, and brought in some big numbers for HBO. 17.4 million viewers tuned in for the season 8 premiere of Game of Thrones, either watching live on TV or streaming the show on HBO GO or HBO Now.
Quentin Schaffer, executive vice president of corporate communications for HBO, is expecting the number to build further, saying it "could eventually surpass the viewing average last year of 33 million per episode". But while it’s all great news for HBO, piracy remains a dragon-sized problem. Straight after the first episode aired, Torrent Freak reported that over 120,000 BitTorrent users were actively sharing copies of it. That’s not HBO’s only concern however.
New specification sets the standard for passwordless logins
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the FIDO Alliance have today announced that the Web Authentication (WebAuthn) specification is now an official web standard.
W3C's WebAuthn recommendation, a core component of the FIDO Alliance's FIDO2 set of specifications, is a browser/platform standard for simpler and stronger authentication.
Google launches new tools to help protect your accounts
To coincide with Safer Internet Day, search giant Google is launching two new tools to help users detect if their username and password have been compromised.
Google's own research published today shows that many people still reuse passwords. The new tools are designed to raise awareness of account issues.
69 percent of employees share passwords with colleagues
According to a new study, 69 percent of respondents admit to sharing passwords with others in the workplace, and 51 percent reuse an average of five passwords across their business and personal accounts.
The study by authentication key vendor Yubico and Ponemon, released to coincide with Data Protection Day, also finds two-factor authentication isn't widely used, 55 percent don't use it at work and 67 percent don't use it for their personal accounts.
1Password 7.3 for Windows unveils new secure desktop feature, numerous other improvements
AgileBits has released 1Password 7.3 for Windows clients. 1Password offers secure form-filling and password management tools and is also available on Mac, iOS and Android.
The new Windows build unveils a new Secure Desktop mode, improvements to the Watchtower feature and numerous other improvements, including customizable keyboard shortcuts and more robust update mechanism
One in three networks has exposed passwords
Passwords are exposed in Group Policy Preferences in 32.2 percent of networks, according to new research, leaving them open to the risk of hackers traveling laterally through the network.
The study from identity and access specialist Preempt also shows organizations lack visibility and control when it comes to their passwords and privileged users.
The beginning of the end for the password, more regulation and more IoT risks -- cybersecurity predictions for 2019
When we looked at security predictions at this time last year some experts were predicting that we'd see attacks on cryptocurrencies and that we'd continue to see a rise in the scale and profile of attacks.
They've been proved right on both counts over the course of 2018, so what is next year going to have in store? We've canvassed the views of a number of industry figures to find out what they see as the key security issues for 2019.
2018's worst password fails revealed
Despite newer technologies, most of us still rely on passwords to secure our accounts. We are not, however, very good at choosing them or looking after them.
Password management company Dashlane has produced a list of the 10 worst password fails of 2018.
True Key by McAfee uses facial recognition to securely store your passwords
After listening to years of security advice, many of us now use different passwords to access various websites. Problem is, how do you store and synchronize this data across your devices? You can’t remember every unique password.
The secret is a password manager which enables you to store a central 'master password' (which you can remember) and then gain access to this securely stored data on any supported device. Problem is, can you trust a centralized password manager after previous security issues?
70 percent of SMBs suffer cyberattacks
Cyberattacks are often thought of as being a problem just for large organizations. But a new study by the Ponemon Institute, sponsored by Keeper Security, shows that small businesses increasingly face the same cybersecurity risks as larger ones.
The number of attacks is on the rise -- with 67 percent experiencing a cyberattack and 58 percent experiencing a data breach in the last 12 months.
Consumers still reuse passwords despite knowing the risks
Despite almost half of US consumers (49 percent) believing their security habits make them vulnerable to information fraud or identity theft, 51 percent admit to reusing passwords and PINs across multiple accounts.
According to a new fraud awareness survey by information destruction company Shred-it, 39 percent of consumers have been a victim of fraud or identity theft, and 27 percent admit that they don't know how to find out if they've become a victim.
Major companies' two-factor authentication offerings fall short
With passwords increasingly being seen as insufficient to properly secure access to websites, more and more companies are turning to two-factor authentication.
New research from digital identity management experts Dashlane looks at how some of the biggest consumer websites are protecting their users. It looks at 17 of the UK’s most popular sites and finds only four get top marks for their 2FA offerings.
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