Do you use one of these passwords? Change it now

Brits have been urged to apply steps to stay safe online after results of the UK Cyber Survey exposed exploitable gaps in personal security knowledge.

The polling was independently carried out on behalf of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), a part of GCHQ, and Department for Digital, Media and Sport (DCMS).

The findings, it is hoped, will inform government policy and the guidance offered to organisations and the public. 

Amongst the results – which have been published in full on www.ncsc.gov.uk – were that;

• Only 15% say they know a great deal about how to protect themselves from harmful activity
• The most regular concern is money being stolen – with 42% feeling it likely to happen by 2021
• 89% use the internet to make online purchases – with 39% on a weekly basis 
• One in three rely to some extent on friends and family for help on cyber security
• Young people more likely to be privacy conscious and careful of what details they share online
• 61% of internet users check social media daily, but 21% report they never look at social media
• 70% always use PINs and passwords for smart phones and tablets
• Less than half do not always use a strong, separate password for their main email account

The NCSC has also today published separate analysis of the 100,000 most commonly re-occurring passwords that have been accessed by third parties in global cyber breaches. 

The results show a huge number of regularly used passwordsbreached to access sensitive information.