Several articles have been written over the last 6 months about the importance of using a password manager. Password managers are the best line of defense against the alarming trend of data security breaches on such websites as Twitter, Living Social, Yahoo and Evernote. In the past year, 250 million consumers were affected by data leaks that disclosed their usernames and passwords. What often isn’t written about is the cost of a password breach to the average consumer.
The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reported that $525 million was stolen in internet related crime over 2012. That’s an average of $1,813 per complaint! But the cost to the consumer isn’t just about the amount of money stolen; it’s about the time and out of pocket expense that results from the theft. A Javelin Strategy & Research study of a single security breach estimates that each fraud incident costs over $3,300 in losses per consumer. Losses accrued as each victim spends 20 hours and an average of almost $800 working to resolve the issue.
Although businesses are working diligently to protect your usernames and passwords, they need your help. By creating stronger passwords and investing in a password manager, like Password Genie, that encrypts your saved information, you add another layer of protection against cyber criminals. Keeping the internet safe is a shared responsibility and we need to work together to make sure it stays that way.
