How often do Americans change their passwords?

By Talker Staff

Passwords are part of our everyday lives, necessary to access everything from bank information to emails. While most Americans are constantly reminded to keep their passwords secure, a large number fail to do so.

Only 24% use a password manager to keep their password secure, which is one of the best ways to manage difficult-to-hack passwords. Forbes Advisor conducted a survey to learn more about Americans’ password habits—and their biggest mistakes.

73% say they are familiar with password security best practices

It should go without saying that you want passwords to be secure and difficult for nefarious individuals to hack. One way to create a secure password is to make it at least 12 characters long, containing both uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and special characters.

While formulas like this one seem to appear on every password creation prompt, 16% of respondents say they are neither familiar nor unfamiliar with password security best practices. This statistic is pronounced among older generations, with only 19% of those who are 59 to 77 years of age reporting that they know how to keep their passwords secure.

Although the majority of respondents are familiar with best practices, they still engage in risky password behavior, with 54% using a main password to log in to multiple accounts. This common password mistake puts multiple accounts at risk; all a hacker needs to do is gain access to one password and they can access a wide variety of information.

Not only do people use the same password for multiple accounts, they are not changing this password on a regular basis.

Experts suggest changing your passwords at a minimum of every three months to help prevent hackers from cycling through password options and gaining access to your system. And yet, 24% of respondents change their password less than once a year.

39% had their password compromised in the last five years

Getting your password compromised can leave you feeling violated. Hackers gain access to personal, private information and can impersonate your identity or steal money. And cleaning up the mess requires more than simply changing passwords.

While social media accounts are the biggest target for hackers, banks and shopping accounts make up 20% of compromised accounts in the past five years.

16% share their passwords with other people

It doesn’t matter how often experts advise us not to share our passwords—people still do it. There are sometimes good reasons for this, such as sharing a subscription or needing family to access accounts for emergency purposes.

Because it is easy to forget passwords, with 21% saying they have forgotten passwords that are too complex, more and more people are using tools such as Face ID or other biometrics to log in to accounts. In fact, 17% of respondents rely on Face ID to get into high-risk accounts.

This doesn’t eliminate the need for complex passwords as accounts still require passwords; Face ID simply reduces the need to remember them.

Survey methodology:

To understand Americans’ password habits and how they keep their passwords safe, Forbes Advisor commissioned a survey of 1,000 Americans conducted by market research company OnePoll, in accordance with the Market Research Society’s code of conduct. The margin of error is +/- 2.2 points with 95% confidence. The OnePoll research team is a member of the MRS and has corporate membership with the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR).

Editorial Note: This story was originally published on Forbes Advisor.