Internet users are happy to use the same couple of passwords to
access different e-commerce sites, despite the risk of fraud.
Users risk givng away confidential data, such as bank and credit
card details, if they rely on
weak passwords to log into e-commerce sites.
Analyst firm Gartner has found that despite widespread security
concerns, consumers continue to rely on service providers to
protect their safety and persist in using unsafe password
management practices.
Gregg Kreizman, research director at Gartner, said, "Most
consumers want to continue managing their passwords the same ways
they do now. They don't favour using software or hardware to help
manage passwords, and user-centric identity frameworks such as
OpenID and information card architectures face scarce consumer
demand."
Avivah Litan, vice-president and distinguished analyst at
Gartner, said, "Businesses with consumer-facing websites that
require stronger controls than weak password authentication alone
should continue to augment passwords with complementary mechanisms,
such as device identification, geolocation and transaction
verification."