Social media users 'waking up' to dangers of cyber attack- study reveals

A new study had revealed that social media users are finally waking up to the dangers that exist online.

According to the research carried out by an online security firm Eset, more than two-thirds (that is 68 per cent) of social media users in the UK, have taken steps to upgrade the privacy settings on their various social media accounts, which includes changing their passwords to a stronger password and not using the same password on multiple accounts.

Security specialist at Eset, Mark James said: 

"The findings from our study show that UK social media users are finally waking up to the dangers that exist online, and the fact that there are people out there who are specifically looking to compromise their data.

"Data is the currency of the 21st century and cybercriminals are constantly looking at new ways to get their hands on it. However, as consumers become more privacy conscious, this becomes a more difficult job for hackers, which, in my opinion, can only be a good thing."

According to the research, three quarters of those interviewed said they believed privacy on social media was more important than popularity, while 81 per cent of the people said they did not use passwords that were related to their personal lives, such as birthdays or anniversary dates.

The study also emphasized a contrast between men and women, as women were found to be alert to the importance of privacy as only 29 per cent of women had never taken steps to use different passwords on different accounts, compared to more than a third which is about 36 per cent of men.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey are among a range of high profile social media users who have had their social media accounts compromised this year.