It’s just as well that divorce levels are at their lowest in 40 years as over half of people (52%) share passwords with their spouse or partner.  This is according to a poll of IT professionals by Centrify, the leader in securing enterprise identities against cyberthreats.

The same poll found that friends and children are trusted the least with more people prepared to hand a password over to a colleague (20 percent) or other family member (20 percent) than to friends (4 percent) or children (4 percent).

Considering that a quarter of people (26 percent) have more than 30 passwords, but that most people (33 percent) can only remember between two and five, keeping track of passwords is a challenge.

“Sharing passwords may be tempting, but who knows what the future may bring,” warns Barry Scott, chief technology officer, EMEA, Centrify.  “The people who know us the best are also the ones best placed to guess our passwords, from our favourite football teams to our childrens’ or pets’ names or the schools we attended. For those living with someone who may be lacking in imagination, there’s even a probability that the dreaded ‘PASSWORD’ password is in use somewhere.”

“Passwords alone are no longer fit for purpose which is why the industry is starting to shift to multi-factor authentication, such as combining a password with biometrics.  This means that while your partner may gaze into your eyes to capture your heart, they won’t be able to get your log-in details.”