- Biggest fear: Purchasing and signing contracts in your own name
- 38 percent of Austrian internet users use personal information in passwords, making identity theft easier
Half of Austrian internet users are worried (40%) or even very worried (9%) about being affected by identity theft. The majority fear that strangers could make purchases (57%) or conclude contracts (53%) on their behalf. During identity theft, criminals gain access to online accounts and act on behalf of their victims.
Many respondents worry that fraudsters will use the stolen identity to open new accounts (37%), that private information could fall into the hands of others or become public (27%), and that friends and acquaintances could use this method to get money could be cheated (26%). These are the results of a representative survey commissioned by the email provider GMX.
There is a need to catch up on password security
There is an urgent need to catch up when it comes to using secure passwords: 38 percent of Internet users in Austria use personal information in their passwords, such as the dates of birth of family, partners or friends (12%), their names (9%) or their own Date of birth (9%). The pet's name (9%) is also a popular password source. Much of this information is often available on social media platforms, making passwords easy to guess.
“Identity theft is a real nightmare for many internet users. You should pay particular attention to your email account, as this is how you log in to most services and can reset passwords. In addition to a strong, unique password for each service, you should also activate two-factor authentication,” says Jan Oetjen, Managing Director of GMX.
After activating two-factor authentication (2FA), the password is no longer sufficient to log into the Internet account. In addition, another authentication factor must be specified when logging in, to which only the account holder can have access. The second factor is usually a unique numerical code that is received, for example, via SMS or generated in a smartphone app.
About the method: The data used is based on an online survey by YouGov Deutschland GmbH, in which 1,051 people in Austria took part between May 3rd and 5th, 2022. The results have been weighted and are representative of the population aged 18 and over.
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