WILL’YOU’GHBY TRUSTING HOLLY WITH YOUR PASSWORDS?

F-Secure reveals the celebs Brits trust most with their Netflix password for World Password Day

Ahead of World Password Day on 6th May 2021, a survey commissioned by cyber security provider F-Secure, has found that queen of daytime TV, Holly Willoughby, is the celebrity Britons would trust the most with their passwords to Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+ and other streaming services. Despite working closely together Holly’s bestie, Phillip Schofield, doesn’t even make the top five in this new ‘trust-o-meter’.

F-Secure also found that while Britons have become accustomed to social distancing over the last year, it seems they are less cautious when it comes to sharing their usernames and passwords. The research, which was conducted among 2,000 UK adults, also revealed that over a third (37%) of people get their online content through a mix of their own subscriptions and using someone else’s account.

As the UK faces major challenges with data fraud, consumers need to be more vigilant with account information. The cyber security risk of sharing details far and wide means that there’s a higher probability of those passwords being compromised and exposed to cyber-crime.

Trust me, I’m a celebrity

Holly is joined in the top three by actor Idris Elba and former athlete, Jessica Ennis-Hill. The UK government still has some work to do in gaining the nation’s trust with Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak and Prime Minister Boris Johnson coming in at fourth and fifth place respectively. David Beckham, Richard Branson and activist Jameela Jamil also came lowdown in the pecking order when it comes to who Britons would trust with their passwords.

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 The full top 10 list of celebrities Brits trust with streaming passwords is:

  1. Holly Willoughby 20%
  2. Idris Elba 16%
  3. Jessica Ennis-Hill 12%
  4. Rishi Sunak 11%
  5. Boris Johnson 9%
  6. David Beckham 9%
  7. Philip Schofield 8%
  8. Marcus Rashford 8%
  9. Richard Branson 5%
  10. Jameela Jamil 3%

Sharing isn’t caring 

 When asked, 42% of Britons said they share streaming services with between one to three people, including colleagues and former partners. So big is the problem that 370,000 Britons knowingly continue using their ex’s Netflix subscription after a break up, and it seems we’re a nation of (guilt) freeloaders as 70% of Britons said they feel no remorse using someone else’s login for Netflix or Amazon. While Netflix threatens a crackdown on password sharing, they might want to think twice before doing so, as over a quarter (26%) of Brits would cancel their subscriptions outright if they couldn’t share it with someone else.

The research goes on to show the UK’s most shared streaming services:

  1. Netflix
  2. Amazon Prime
  3. Disney+
  4. Spotify
  5. NowTV
  6. Apple Music
  7. Audible
  8. Xbox GamePass
  9. Apple TV

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Tom Gaffney, Principal Consultant for F-Secure’s consumer security business comments: “There’s a good chance the majority of us have lent or borrowed a username and password for an online service at some point, without giving it much thought. It’s easy to do and usually you’re sharing that information with someone you know and trust.

“However, the increase in people working from home and being online due to the coronavirus pandemic has led to a rise in cyber-criminal activity. Fraud is now the most common crime in the UK and people really need to be taking steps to protect themselves. Astonishingly four-in-ten (41%) people use the same password on multiple accounts and almost six-in-ten use the same password on multiple accounts with slight variations. With the average person having 18 password protected accounts, one leaked credential could very quickly lead to multiple risks for each user.

“World Password Day on Thursday 6th May is all about promoting better password habits. Users need to ensure they’re limiting the spread of their passwords; using two-factor authentication wherever possible; and make each password strong and unique to ensure that access to one account doesn’t also mean access to several others.”

 

*Research conducted by Vitreous World on behalf of F-Secure, surveying 2,000 people across the United Kingdom, aged 18 to 65+. 

**Figures calculated based on the most recently available public subscriber data

 About F-Secure

Nobody has better visibility into real-life cyber-attacks than F-Secure. We’re closing the gap between detection and response, utilizing the unmatched threat intelligence of hundreds of our industry’s best technical consultants, millions of devices running our award-winning software, and ceaseless innovations in artificial intelligence. Top banks, airlines, and enterprises trust our commitment to beating the world’s most potent threats. Together with our network of the top channel partners and over 200 service providers, we’re on a mission to make sure everyone has the enterprise-grade cyber security we all need.

Founded in 1988, F-Secure is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd.

f-secure.com | twitter.com/fsecure | linkedin.com/f-secure​

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