Why is your weak password Google's problem too? Or why the platforms keep on insisting on a strong password while you might not care? Each week, our team selects one pressing and common reader issue and deconstructs it to help you stay safe online.
We have all been there. You try to create an account and the website is demanding you to rethink your password choices. At least eight characters? Uppercase, lowercase, numbers, symbols? The vibe is obvious – who cares? If someone hacks your account, you’ll just make a new one, right?
That was exactly the question one Cybernews reader asked: “Why is Google more worried about my account than I am? Is it just because they don’t want to deal with the hassle when it gets hacked?”
The Cybernews editorial team decided to search for an answer to this provoking question. Here is why Google cares to keep your account safe, and why you should care too.
Here is why Google cares that your account stays safe
Google is concerned about its user's account security for two main reasons, which are reputation and fraud prevention.
If Google accounts were constantly getting hacked, it wouldn’t just be your problem. It would be theirs as well. Imagine headlines screaming about millions of stolen Gmail accounts being sold online. “Well, users picked weak passwords” might not be a reasonable excuse.
If it is relatively easy to steal accounts from your platform, clients and business partners may naturally choose other service providers.
“If millions of stolen accounts are found to be sold by malicious actors, it shows systematic failures on the platform's end to implement best practices that would prevent account theft,” said Cybernews researchers.
Another pain point is fraud prevention. “Stolen accounts are some of the best ways for malicious actors to hide their identities. It is in Google's best interest to prevent its platforms from being used in fraud,” said researchers.
The entire Google business model is based on selling ads. The company earns money by monetizing accurate data about user behavior. If hacked accounts start polluting analytics, ads might fail to target the right users, and campaigns might not perform as well as expected.
Finally, if you personally don’t mind losing access to your Gmail, you are not the only player in this game. Potentially, not the only victim as well. The person who hijacks your account might use your name to phish your friends and exploit your contact list to spread malware.
So, it's better to be safe than sorry. Always create passwords that follow the best security practices. Also, you can always use a password generator to create strong passwords and a password manager to free yourself from the duty of keeping all the passwords in your head.
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