A recent Dashlane study reveals a worrying trend: nearly half of password manager users reuse their credentials.
This practice directly endangers the security of their online accounts. Even those who use specialized managers continue to take unnecessary risks.
The results show a slight improvement compared to the previous year, but this remains insufficient. In the United States and Canada, 48% of passwords stored in managers are reused. Moreover, 15% of users continue to use compromised passwordsusually recovered during data breaches. This exposes even more accounts to major risks.
The dangers of reusing passwords
When someone reuse a password for multiple accounts, it weakens all of its online services. A single vulnerability on a site can allow hackers to access all other accounts where this same password is used. Attackers often use information obtained from hacks to test the same credentials on multiple platforms. This process, called “credential stuffing”dangerously exposes users.
North American users show a lack of rigor in terms of security. The report assigns a score of 72.6 out of 100 in this regionthe lowest of the 14 studied. This figure is mainly due to the high frequency of password reuse and the large number of compromised credentials. Despite the availability of tools like Dashlane, these users continue to adopt risky practices.
Tech companies, on the other hand, are implementing better practices. The software and technology sector gets a safety score of 80.2the highest in the study. These companies take password management more seriously, although a reuse rate of 37.4% persists. Although the situation is better there, these sectors are not entirely immune to risks.
Password managers, underused tools
Password managers, such as Dashlaneconstantly alert their users when they detect reused or compromised passwords. These tools also offer advanced features to strengthen account security, such as two-factor authentication. However, many users still ignore these alerts and do not take full advantage of the proposed measures, which reduces their protection.
Even large companies make security mistakes. In 2019, Meta (Facebook) suffered a sanction for having stored millions of plain text passwords. This incident serves as a reminder of how challenging password management is for all organizations, large or small.
Fred Rivaintechnical director of Dashlane, emphasizes the difficulty of educating users without frustrating them. He compares this situation to that of dentists who constantly remind people of the importance of dental hygiene. Despite these warnings, many continue to ignore best practices until it is too late. It is therefore urgent that users understand that their online security depends on their discipline and habits.
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