Gen Z and Millennial social media accounts are up for grabs and this doesn’t surprise me
- 47 percent of Gen Z and 46 percent of Millennials claim passwords have been hacked in Yubico’s latest annual report
- But they are also the demographics that are believed to be most aware of and eager to use hardware security keys
- 73 percent of Generation Z are also concerned about the rise of AI in cyber attacks
Generation Z and Millennials are just as at risk of password breaches as anyone else report of Yubico has claimed.
The survey found that 47% of Generation Z and 46% of Millennials reported that their social media account passwords had been leaked at some point. These findings appear to be at odds with the fact that 63% of respondents in the sample size of 20,000 claim they feel secure about cybersecurity measures taken to protect their personal data.
And yet the report also found that 70% of respondents reported having been the victim of a cyber attack in the past 12 months, indicating overconfidence and a lack of cybersecurity education. 40% of respondents claimed they have not received cybersecurity training at work.
Gen Z and millennial cybersecurity attitudes in the workplace
It gets even worse when you consider that almost half (49%) of respondents said they are more concerned about their personal data than that of their company or workplace, showing that companies and entrepreneurs can’t see computer and cybersecurity skills as an innate skill of the youngest generations. when considering the resilience of their own digital infrastructure.
It also seems foolish to suggest that younger generations will have an easier time grasping and understanding the implications of new technologies, when 58% of survey respondents expressed concern about the continued ‘advanced’ role of AI in cyber attacks.
Yubico’s view on authentication methods
The primary purpose of the report appears to be advocating for alternative authentication methods in the workplace, with only 21% of employees reporting using a mobile phone. authentication app. Yubico’s report notes that employees may have valid reasons for not using this method, such as not wanting to use a personal smartphone for work or simply not having a personal smartphone.
To this end, Yubico advocates passwordless MFA solutions, such as software-based password keys (which are seeing widespread support in the tech industry), plus physical security keys.
“In addition to being highly secure, passkeys greatly simplify the user experience,” said Derek Hanson, Yubico’s VP of Standards and Alliances.
“By eliminating the need for users to remember complex passwords, it reduces the friction associated with logging in and eliminates the frustration of forgotten passwords. This can lead to greater user satisfaction and productivity, especially in corporate environments where employees often have to juggle multiple accounts and passwords.”
“Looking at the current options for passkeys, device-based security keys provide the highest level of phishing resistance and meet the highest security standards.”
The report concludes by suggesting that “embracing emerging (technology) such as hardware security keys and passwords will undoubtedly play a critical role in protecting our digital identities and securing the systems and services we rely on every day,” a utopian idea that is nicely supported by the fact that 39% of respondents believe that a standard username and password combination is the most secure authentication available.