Quarter of cybersecurity experts have the same password for work and personal use - report
Cybersecurity leaders are frequent targets of phishing attacks, and some of them have poor cyber hygiene - use public Wi-Fi without VPN, do not change passwords frequently enough, and use work devices for personal matters, a new survey showed.
74% of cybersecurity leaders reported being targeted in a phishing or vishing attack in the last 90 days, the findings from Constella’s survey, which polled over 100 global cybersecurity leaders, showed.
Alarmingly, one-third of cybersecurity leaders (34%) say they have been targeted in a phishing or vishing attack from someone impersonating their CEO. And 28% of respondents report having no special security measures in place to protect their executives from cyber attacks.
The survey also found that 48% of cybersecurity leaders use their work computer to log on to social network platforms, and 77% are willing to accept requests on social media from people they don’t know.
45% of cybersecurity experts are also putting themselves and their companies at risk by connecting to public Wi-FI without using virtual private networks (VPNs). When in public, it’s important to note that anyone on that network can see your device and potentially take control of it.
76% of respondents say they never use the same password for work and personal use, leaving almost a quarter (24%) of cybersecurity leaders who do.
When it comes to changing work email passwords, 39% of cybersecurity leaders say they have not changed their work email passwords within the last 30 days.
“More than ever before, individuals and companies alike need to ensure that a robust and secure environment is in place,” Constella Intelligence CEO Kailash Ambwani said in a press release. “Amidst the rise in cyber attacks to organizations, many of which are perpetrated through C-suite impersonations, employee cybersecurity awareness is now arguably as important as an organization’s security infrastructure. And as the professional and personal spheres become increasingly digitally intertwined, both leaders and employees must pay close attention to the role each one of us plays in collective cybersecurity hygiene.”
Survey results indicate that more than 50% of respondents do not have a formal policy to monitor the digital public sphere for threats against their brand or brand reputation.
Among other things, experts recommend using stricter password protocol and VPN usage restrictions to avoid falling victim to cyber attacks. Strong passwords and password managers that can deter password reuse are also of paramount importance.
The best password is the one you can’t remember at all, so we recommend using our strong password generator and then store your password on a password manager. We recommend you visit our Data Leak Checker to see if your email address and other personal data have been exposed in a data breach.
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