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Cybersecurity

Study reveals high levels of relationship account sharing, leading to security fears

“It absolutely broadens the number of targets that might exist,” one advocate says.
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Francis Scialabba

less than 3 min read

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Relationship drama? Try adding “getting hacked” to the normal spats and disagreements of a romantic relationship.

It’s a possibility, thanks to an increase in shared passwords, joint accounts, and location sharing. An August 6 report from Malwarebytes surveying 500 adults across the US, all in committed relationships, revealed the extent of digital integration for couples—85% of those polled reported allowing their partner access to personal accounts. Close to 50% of those surveyed reported allowing their partner access to their email, messaging apps, social media, and online forums.

“It absolutely broadens the number of targets that might exist,” Malwarebytes Senior Privacy Advocate David Ruiz told IT Brew. “If there are companies and organizations that are worried about what is their security risk…they no longer have to just worry about their C-suite, they no longer just have to worry about their employees—highly committed cyber criminals could start targeting loved ones.”

Added responsibility. Organizations and companies with security concerns that could be exacerbated by this kind of attack need to be careful, GitHub CSO Mike Hanley said. Hanley—who told IT Brew that he was talking generally, not about the study—noted how in a connected world, it’s important to focus on doing a “better job educating people on what best practices are.” The responsibility for that is not solely on the users, Hanley added.

“Platforms need to do a better job being safe and secure by default and it needs to be extremely easy and extremely transparent for end users as to how their data is being used, who they’re sharing it with,” Hanley said.

Close to home. The Malwarebytes study found that the danger from the apps doesn’t just come from outside bad actors. With a proliferation of tracking apps and shared accounts, people can share their location without knowing it. Half of those surveyed were unaware that people with access to shared apps like DoorDash could track their location, though only 27% worried that their partner would do so. Ruiz told IT Brew that raises red flags for the team.

“We’re also deeply concerned about things like if folks are sharing device pass codes at a very high rate, and we can see that folks are saying that we’re sharing it only because [their] partner insists,” Ruiz said, adding, “That opens things up for abusing a device.”

Top insights for IT pros

From cybersecurity and big data to cloud computing, IT Brew covers the latest trends shaping business tech in our 4x weekly newsletter, virtual events with industry experts, and digital guides.