While the results aren’t too surprising, BitDefender issued a press release on August 9, 2010, concluding that 75% of users that they studied had the same password for both their e–mail accounts and their social networking accounts (link).
Although this is bad news for the security of online accounts, it may be helpful for family members and fiduciaries who are dealing with a person’s incapacity or death. If the person did not leave behind a list of passwords for their online accounts, recovering one password (such as the e–mail password) may unlock the person’s other online accounts. However, exercise caution because some online accounts may lock out login attempts after a certain number of failed password attempts.
