NEWS
87% of South Africans think up
their own passwords
Arcserve
research
uncovers
links between
ransomware
and brand
loyalty
Arcserve Southern Africa has revealed
the results of research conducted by
Arcserve, a data and ransomware protection
provider. The research aimed to measure
how cybercrime influences purchasing
behaviour and brand loyalty.
It found that while most consumers are
taking necessary security precautions to
protect their online accounts, businesses
may not be doing enough to protect their
information – inadvertently driving sales to
competitors that can.
The latest Kaspersky report, Defending
Digital Privacy: Taking Personal
Protection to the Next Level, has found
that 87% of South African users are
thinking up their own passwords, while
72% say they are unaware about how
to check if any of their credentials have
already been leaked.
This highlights the need for storing
passwords more securely.
Passwords are the most common
method of authentication, but they
only work if they are hard to crack and
confidential. And with an increasing
number of applications requiring them,
it can be hard to come up with new
ideas for complex passwords and keep
them all in your mind – especially when
users may be required to change their
passwords regularly.
In addition to this challenge of creativity
for users, it is becoming more vital to
store passwords securely and look out for
possible instances when these credentials
could be leaked.
According to Kaspersky’s report, 63%
of local users claim they remember all
of their passwords – which can be
difficult if security requirements such
as password complexity and uniqueness
are to be satisfied. Furthermore, 10%
keep them written in a file or document
stored on their computer, while 18%
use the browsers on their computers,
smartphones or tablets to store
their passwords.
The survey of nearly 2,000 consumers
across North America, the United Kingdom,
France and Germany, found that 70% of
respondents believe businesses aren’t doing
enough to adequately secure their personal
information and assume it has been
compromised without them knowing.
As consumers become more educated
and cyberattacks become well-known,
perceived trust becomes more influential
in their purchasing decisions, with the
study also finding that 59% of consumers
would likely avoid doing business with
an organisation that had experienced a
cyberattack in the past year.
Byron Horn-Botha, Arcserve Southern
Africa Lead: Channel and Partnerships,
said the trends displayed in this
international survey are also relevant to
the South African market.
“The survey results deliver a stark cautionary
message to all businesses to prioritise
cybersecurity and Disaster Recovery (DR)
plans or lose customer loyalty and trade,”
said Horn-Botha.
“Arcserve recommends a two-pronged
approach where cybersecurity and DR are
strategically interlinked in business operations.”
12 INTELLIGENTCIO www.intelligentcio.com