Older Internet Users Pick Better Passwords Than Teens [STUDY]

Teens and young adults may be considered more tech-savvy than their elders, but when it comes to password security, wisdom comes with age.

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According to a new study conducted by the University of Cambridge, people over the age of 55 are more likely to choose secure passwords than those under 25.

Computer scientist Joseph Bonneau, who analyzed password data from 70 million Yahoo users, found that Internet users older than 55 select passwords that are twice as strong teens and young adults. The findings come from the largest study ever conducted on password security.

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“There is a general trend towards better password selection with users’ age, particularly against online attacks, where password strength increases smoothly across different age groups by about a bit between the youngest users and the oldest users,” Bonneau wrote in his report.

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He noted that language also has an impact on password strength. For example, passwords selected by Indonesian-speaking users were among the weakest, while German and Korean-speaking web users selected strong passwords.

The report also found that those who changed their password the most often were more likely to have stronger passwords, but Yahoo users who had to reset passwords after reporting that their accounts had been compromised didn’t actually choose better passwords.

Are you surprised by the findings? Why do you think older Internet users pick stronger passwords? Let us know in the comments.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

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