Consumers Are Getting More Security and Privacy Conscious – Well Maybe

According to a survey of 2,000 people by Consumer Reports (CR), whom I consider relatively unbiased on the media scale, people are paying attention.

I think it is a combination of factors, but I will take what I can get.

CR says that 88% of the people said that they use strong password (8 characters or more, with upper, lower, numbers and symbols), up from 74%.

85% have some form of login (passsword, PIN, FaceID, etc.) on their phone, up from 69%.

Surprisingly, 81 percent say they only allow apps to track their location when they are using that app.

Even more surprising, 80 percent said that they did not install an app that wanted to collect too much information. 78 percent blocked an app’s access to phone, camera, location or contacts if they didn’t think the app didn’t need it, up from 60 percent in 2019.

77 percent say they use MFA, up from 50 percent last time.

According to Roger Grimes, author of hundreds of security articles and dozens of books, part of the reason is that companies are taking security more seriously, and that trickles down to their employees, including to their personal life.

Also part of it is that companies, like Apple and Google, are forcing people to use passwords, make them stronger, turn on MFA, etc. so part of it is forced behavior.

Still, the hackers are winning, so our work is not done. It is a start. But not an end.

Training and education is critical here. If you don’t have a great cybersecurity and privacy training program for your employees, let us help you implement one.

Credit: Dark Reading

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