Member Article

Poor passwords could leave companies hacked off

IT specialist Daniel Mitchell reveals some shocking results from the Lifeline IT trends research

I was amazed when our latest IT trends survey found that one in five British companies has used ‘password’ as their password!

As the founder of Lifeline IT, I’ve been in this business a long time and we always find it useful to find out what our customer-base is thinking.

Out of the 500 companies polled, we found that over 70% ranked IT security as vital for their work, yet over a third admitted using their date of birth as part of their password and a further 15% use a family member’s or friend’s name, with 13% a family or friend’s birthday.

We also found over 30% of workers make hacking into computers and other sensitive information such as bank details, even easier by leaving their password on a post it note by their desk.

Our annual trends survey polled businesses including finance, retail, education, government and banking sectors.

As well as on their desks, we also found that over a third store their passwords on their mobiles and seven per cent with the instructions that came with their PC or laptop.

In other news, smartphones (44%) are starting to overtake landlines (41%) in the workplace and the fax is almost dead with nearly two-thirds saying this is the technology they use the least.

More than two-thirds of us are still office-bound, but over 43% spend a substantial amount of time on the road working on the hoof and nearly a third often work from home as well.

Almost half of those questioned use laptops instead of PCs, making security a mobile problem as well.

It just goes to show that there have certainly been some big changes in just over a year since our last report which is why it is crucial for businesses to stay switched on when it comes to IT.

What’s more 2013 is set to see some big changes with the dawn of 4G across the UK and passwords being tightened up, perhaps even heading into the sphere of biometrics.

So it’s not surprising that three-quarters of those questioned admitted that they think IT has become more confusing over the last five years and over half said they need more support to help with it.

In fact, the majority said they won’t cut corners when it comes to investing in security measures such as firewalls and anti-virus software.

The research also revealed that businesses are also getting more social with Linkedin (86%) overtaking twitter (84%) and Face Book (76).

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Daniel Mitchell .