It can not be stressed enough in today’s ever-connected world, but taking online security seriously should be on top of anybody’s list if they make use of the internet.

But shockingly, a large number of South African internet users throw caution to the wind when it comes to securing their personal details.

In a study of over 2 000 users, market research company Columinate found that 1 in 4 people do not have anti-virus protection on their devices; 1 in 3 people have clicked on links they don’t know the source of; and only half of the people in the survey changed their passwords regularly.

“Many people seem to be taking their chances online. But some have learned hard lessons this way. 36% of consumers have been hacked in one way or another, with social media and email account hacks being the most prevalent,” explained Dr Henk Pretorius, CEO of Columinate.

Pet names as passwords? Apparently it is OK to use one of the most obvious things for a password, as as much as 8% of participants said that they feel it constitutes the safest type of password.

“These findings seem to confirm a lot of what we already know about human online behaviour. However, individuals should clearly be taking more measures to protect themselves from potential financial and personal harm. The attempts at online fraud continue to grow in frequency and sophistication. It is important that South Africans educate themselves and also take responsibility for their online security,” added Pretorius.

By using something as obvious as your pet’s name, you don’t only expose your computer to cyber criminals, but also your social media accounts. In a different study, it was found that most people have one password for multiple accounts, and if that is the case hackers just need one password to access your entire life.

But even with the 75% of the survey participants stating that they make use of anti-virus applications, 19% say that their social media accounts have been breached, with 15% experiencing the same consequences with personal email account.

“Of even more concern is the 7% of consumers who stated that their bank accounts had been hacked, a statistic in line with what has been noted in other studies regarding internet banking fraud,” Columinate said.

We can never stress this enough: never have the same password for multiple accounts; and never use the same password for more than six months.

[Image – Pixabay]