Devices sour relations and are a security threat, too

Despite the many horror stories about hackers breaking into PCs stealing money and information, the majority of computer or mobile users seem to be paying no attention to keep their passwords safe.

A survey by an Internet security solutions found that only 16 per cent of the respondents don’t or wouldn’t share any passwords or PINs with their “significant other.”

This means that a whopping 84 per cent of the respondents share their personal passwords and PINs with their partners, exposing them to serious risks.

The survey, conducted in November 2017 in top metros, covered 600 respondents 18 years and above.

Though it is well known by now that Internet-connected devices are causing havoc to relationships, the survey comes out with startling numbers that validate the popular view.

“Two in three Indians (67 per cent) in a relationship have felt that their significant other was more interested in their internet-connected device than in them,” said the McAfee’s India survey, titled ‘Three’s Company: Lovers, Friends and Devices’.

As many as three in four Indians (75 per cent) indicated that they have had to compete for the attention of their dates with their devices. “The constant device usage actions don’t halt after the first date. In fact, almost half (49 per cent) of adults (between 21-40 years) indicated that it happened even more than twice,” the survey said.

“About 77 per cent of the people in the country think that the use of technology gets in the way of relationships,” it says.

The study was aimed at understanding the online behaviour of people and how it affects their real-world relationships with friends and significant others.

“The insatiable dependency for technology can come at the price of sharing our personal information with the unknown. We need to be aware about the reality of over-sharing and take corrective measures,” Venkat Krishnapur, Vice-President of Engineering and Managing Director of McAfee India, said.

Tips for safe e-profile

He felt that long passwords are always better than short ones. Include numbers, lower and upper case letters, as well as symbols.

“Even better, use a password management tool to help you store and create complex passwords, and enable multi-factor authentication on your devices and online accounts,” he said.

“Take time to remove unnecessary personal information from your devices that could compromise your security. The less information cybercriminals have access to, the better,” he pointed out.

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