infoTECH Feature

August 04, 2015

Google Paper Highlights Experts' and Non-experts' Security Practices

A recent Google (News - Alert) research paper that addresses information security is making the rounds at various tech news sites. It offers a number of suggestions for what you can do to properly protect yourself and notes what you may be doing wrong in those attempts.

The Google Online Security blog highlights the top security practices found in the research paper, “'...no one can hack my mind': Comparing Expert and Non-Expert Security Practices,” which covers two distinct studies of 231 security experts and 294 ordinary Web users who all indicated what they do to stay safe on their computers.

First, both groups show that they are careful with their passwords. Many security experts say they use password managers to store all their passwords securely in one place. In this regard, however, it appears that experts use this type of software at more than three times the rate of Web users.

One user provided the quote that leads the research paper's title. “I try to remember my passwords because no one can hack my mind,” the user said. Although that may be true to some degree, the mind is also flawed and may forget passwords which probably are not as strong as those a password manager could create in the first place.

While some commonality exists on that front, the exact opposite occurs when considering product updates and antivirus software. The report shows that 35 percent of experts and only two percent of non-experts said they installed software patches as a primary security practice. Non-experts reportedly tend to believe that security updates could cause more harm than good by carrying malware or other malicious content.

In addition, 42 percent of non-experts and only seven percent of experts said they use antivirus software as a top-three tactic in the security fight. Experts said they believe antivirus software could give a false sense of security and therefore were less inclined to trust it outright.

If trusting of this research, businesses can learn lessons such that antivirus software can work well but should not be the only line of defense. Password managers can also compliment software updates, but they are only as good as the passwords that protect them. This means that users should make a strong password for access to the manager and then rely on even stronger passwords beneath. Finally, as one expert said: “Patch, patch, patch.” Above all, make sure software regularly updates in order to patch holes developers may find throughout each program's lifecycle.




Edited by Dominick Sorrentino
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