Over 50 per cent of users got hacked in the last year study

A recent survey and research conducted by TeleSign in the United States has found that over 50 per cent of the consumers suffered some form of security incident in the last 12 months. This includes a stolen password or a personal account breach by hackers.

The survey involved 1,300 adults revealed no less than 31 per cent of the consumers believe that their online life is worth $100,000 or even more, and this is one of the reasons they are targeted by hackers.

“The value of online life increases with age. Online accounts and their associated assets are valued at $100,000 or more by only 16 per cent of Millennials, almost doubling to 30 per cent of Gen Xers, then jumping to 46 per cent of Baby Boomers and 50 per cent of Silent Generation consumers,” the study shows.

Over 71 per cent of the respondents have admitted to using the same password or more than one website, and this increases the risk of breaches for their accounts. “The average number of accounts protected by the same password is nine accounts for Millennials, six for all other generations combined and seven for all respondents,” TeleSign stated.

However, the use of two-factor authentication has increased between 2015 and 2016 by 18 per cent, and now 46 per cent of the consumers are using it.

 

In case one wonders why users do not configure two-factor authentication for their accounts, 35 per cent of the consumers didn’t even know this feature existed, while 27 per cent of the respondents say they don’t know what this actually is. 23 per cent have said they do not know how to turn it on.