Fourteen years is a long time for sensitive information like usernames and passwords to be sitting ducks, unencrypted and at risk of theft and corruption.

The Australian Information Commissioner (OIAC) has released the latest quarterly report on the notifications under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

New Zealanders are putting too much trust in smart devices and not necessarily applying some of their own ‘smarts’ to the process.

SolarWinds acquired Passportal, which delivers MSP-focused password management and privileged client knowledge management tools that integrate with IT software products.

Only 49% of respondents use antivirus software and even fewer – just 19% -  change their passwords regularly.

For many cybersecurity professionals, the worries of the day often crawl into night-time routines - LogMeIn says better password practices can help.

The study finds using a number of the top password managers is no better than putting your passwords in a text file and saving it to your desktop.

Techday spoke to experts and executives in the security industry about the data leak and the implications on phishing and credential stuffing.

Some shocking results include that 57% of respondents who have experienced a phishing attack have not changed their password behaviours.

Dubbed “Collection #1”, the data set contains emails and passwords with over a billion unique combinations of email addresses and passwords.

Erroneous alerts regarding potential missile strikes that caused civil disruption in Hawaii and Japan in recent history.

There was a renewed global response to data security in 2018, placing pressure on organisations to assume more responsibility for the data they hold.

“In one case, the attacker gained access and tracked the business’s emails for at least six months. They gathered extensive knowledge of the business’s billing cycles."

Dell is asking all of its Dell.com customers to change their passwords after it detected ‘unauthorised activity’ on its network earlier this month.

It’s an old adage in security that people are the weakest link – mostly because of human error.

A good MFA solution would cover access for both types of applications, and enable access for both employees and third parties such as contractors.

With the Facebook data breach still fresh in everyone’s minds, Cyber Smart Week couldn’t come soon enough.

New developments in ‘zero log-in’ technology look set to redefine the authentication process as we know it and put paid to the dubious protection offered by passwords.

“Passwords continue to be a challenge to cybersecurity in the workplace, and attacks continue to grow in number and complexity every year.”

About 81% of mass breaches are caused by stolen or weak passwords, and just over half of data breaches involve some form of credential harvesting.

Web development and coding platform GitHub has rolled out password and two-factor authentication revamps to make user accounts more secure.

Ransomware continues to be a major concern for Australian consumers this year - and many are unsure if they have even been affected by it.

“Cybersecurity is a problem we all face but 2FA is offered by a lot of service providers in either a too complicated or too unclear of a way."

“The best password is no password at all. Today’s threat actors are targeting the weakest point of your company’s security – your people." - Okta CEO