Google survey: high-risk users have bad security habits
A Google survey showed that high-risk users know that they are more likely to be targeted by hackers than the general people, but many of them still cannot change their bad security habits.
High-risk user groups include corporate executives, politicians and their employees, activists, journalists, and online opinion leaders (such as influencers). These individuals are more likely to be targeted by cyber-attacks.
Google partnered with The Harris Poll to survey 500 high-risk users (politicians and their staff, journalists, business executives, activists, online influencers) living in the U.S.
Survey results show that 78% of high-risk users know that they are more likely to be targeted by hackers than the general people, and today 65% are more worried about their accounts being hacked. The main concern is that their work accounts are targeted.
Image: googleblog
Nearly three-quarters of respondents have been targeted by phishing attacks, and 39% acknowledged that their accounts were compromised. In many cases, phishing attempts to rely on personal details, such as their name or organization, to increase their chances of success.
Although about three-quarters of high-risk users consider their work and personal accounts to be safe, 91% of them claim that they have taken steps to protect their accounts, but surveys show that many of them actually have poor security habits.
Specifically, more than a third of respondents acknowledged that two-factor authentication was not used, and at least 71% of respondents used the same password. 76% acknowledge using a personal email account for work-related communications, which is often considered unsafe.
The vast majority of politicians are worried about hacking their work accounts, and reputational damage is the main problem. Nearly two-thirds of politicians believe they will not fall over due to phishing attacks, while 81% of politicians believe their work accounts are secure. Almost half of them have a security consultant who can help them secure their online accounts.
Reporters are least worried about their accounts being hacked, and they are confident in preventing phishing. On the other hand, in the category of high-risk users, journalists also have the highest number of victims of phishing attacks, and of all high-risk user groups, reporters have the least knowledge of best practices for ensuring account security.
