Most of us now have 26 different online accounts - but only five passwords
Lots of acounts, few passwords: New research out on Monday revealed the spiralling number of internet accounts is behind a dramatic rise in online fraud
The average Briton now has 26 online accounts, yet uses just five passwords to keep them secure.
Remembering a huge number of different passwords is simply impossible for most of us.
But using the same password, for instance, across an email account and an online banking account can leave people terrifyingly vulnerable to hackers.
New research out on Monday revealed the spiralling number of internet accounts is behind a dramatic rise in online fraud.
Fraudsters in the UK illegally traded more than 12 million pieces of personal information online in the first four months of 2012 alone.
Figures from credit checkers Experian says online fraud has increased three fold since 2010, when 9.5 million pieces of information were traded illegally.
Online accounts cover everything from banking to utility bills to social networks, with 25 to 34-year-olds signing up to an average 40 accounts.
The number is set to grow, with nearly one in five people (17%) signing up to six or more new accounts every month.
One in four of the 2,000 people quizzed use a single password for the majority of accounts and one in 20 (four per cent) sticking with the same login details for all their accounts.
Experian says people are putting themselves further at risk by no longer using many of their accounts - meaning passwords are not changed regularly.
Six in 10 adults (66 per cent) admit to having defunct profiles that hold valuable personal and financial information, including social network profiles (26 per cent), email addresses (18 per cent) and shopping accounts (21 per cent).
Peter Turner, managing director at Experian Consumer Services, said: ?The problem is that most people don't realise there is huge market for login credentials - email and password combinations.
?These outnumber sales of credit card details by nine to one because they give access to a huge amount of other valuable information, such as address books and related accounts.
?Using a different password for each account will minimise risks, but if password information is stolen from a website, all accounts using the same details will be compromised, and this information can spread among fraudsters rapidly.
?Changing passwords after a theft can be like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.
Users need to protect themselves with a service like CreditExpert's web monitoring, which will alert them by text or email if details turn up somewhere they shouldn't.?
Two million people said they have been victims of online fraud, leading to debt and refused loans or credit cards.
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No wonder hackers have it easy: Most of us now have 26 different online accounts - but only five passwords | Mail Online
- Rise in e-shopping and banking sites forces net users to reuse passwords
- Easy prey for hackers who want access to banking accounts
- Fraudsters traded 12 million pieces of info in UK
Lots of acounts, few passwords: New research out on Monday revealed the spiralling number of internet accounts is behind a dramatic rise in online fraudThe average Briton now has 26 online accounts, yet uses just five passwords to keep them secure.
Remembering a huge number of different passwords is simply impossible for most of us.
But using the same password, for instance, across an email account and an online banking account can leave people terrifyingly vulnerable to hackers.
New research out on Monday revealed the spiralling number of internet accounts is behind a dramatic rise in online fraud.
Fraudsters in the UK illegally traded more than 12 million pieces of personal information online in the first four months of 2012 alone.
Figures from credit checkers Experian says online fraud has increased three fold since 2010, when 9.5 million pieces of information were traded illegally.
Online accounts cover everything from banking to utility bills to social networks, with 25 to 34-year-olds signing up to an average 40 accounts.
The number is set to grow, with nearly one in five people (17%) signing up to six or more new accounts every month.
One in four of the 2,000 people quizzed use a single password for the majority of accounts and one in 20 (four per cent) sticking with the same login details for all their accounts.
Experian says people are putting themselves further at risk by no longer using many of their accounts - meaning passwords are not changed regularly.
Six in 10 adults (66 per cent) admit to having defunct profiles that hold valuable personal and financial information, including social network profiles (26 per cent), email addresses (18 per cent) and shopping accounts (21 per cent).
Peter Turner, managing director at Experian Consumer Services, said: ?The problem is that most people don't realise there is huge market for login credentials - email and password combinations.
?These outnumber sales of credit card details by nine to one because they give access to a huge amount of other valuable information, such as address books and related accounts.
?Using a different password for each account will minimise risks, but if password information is stolen from a website, all accounts using the same details will be compromised, and this information can spread among fraudsters rapidly.
?Changing passwords after a theft can be like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.
Users need to protect themselves with a service like CreditExpert's web monitoring, which will alert them by text or email if details turn up somewhere they shouldn't.?
Two million people said they have been victims of online fraud, leading to debt and refused loans or credit cards.
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No wonder hackers have it easy: Most of us now have 26 different online accounts - but only five passwords | Mail Online
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