[INFOGRAPHIC] Introducing The Psychology of Passwords

It feels like almost every day there's another data breach in the news, or a case of user credentials up for sale on the Dark Web. Despite the headlines, and repeated warnings from experts about weak passwords and the dangers of password reuse, users have yet to change their online behavior. To get a better understanding of why users are so averse to taking the necessary steps to protect their online accounts, LastPass partnered with Lab42 to survey adults around the world on their attitudes and behaviors around password security. The results: although we know what safe passwords should be, we tend to ignore this knowledge in favor of using easy-to-remember passwords, because the fear of forgetting is stronger than the fear of being hacked. Furthermore, the personality traits that normally define us seem to have little bearing on our poor behavior, but do help us rationalize it. Are you rationalizing your less-than-secure password habits? Our infographic below explores why you may be falling into the trap of bad passwords, and how our personalities may help us rationalize our insecure habits. For the complete results of our study, including how our personalities impact our online safety, see our executive report.

Get LastPass Free