When creating a password to a new account, people are urged to think outside the box to prevent cyber criminals from hacking in to their online profiles.
But not everybody takes this advice onboard.
New research has revealed those who use a pet's name as inspiration for their password are most at risk of having their account compromised.
The figures show 47 per cent of people who used an animal's name as their password have been locked out their account by hackers, compared to 26 per cent who used a child's name or 15 per cent who used a parent's name.
A statement from Beyond Identity, a leader in passwordless technology, who conducted the study, reads: "Password security alerts notify users when their passwords and accounts are at risk and possibly accessible to attackers.
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"This situation often happens due to a data breach. Since account security is one of the most critical issues for anyone doing business online, we wanted to find out how it's impacting users of the most popular internet browser, Google Chrome."
While baby boomers have the weakest passwords, they're the least likely to have their account broken in to, whereas millennials had the lowest number of weak passwords yet the highest number of compromised ones.
"No matter how "weak" Google judged respondents' passwords to be, they all seemed equally vulnerable," the statement adds.
"We also found that users who opted to autosave their passwords were considered by Google to be more at-risk, since they tended to use weaker passwords than those who did not autosave.
"Considering that more than 42 per cent of respondents rely on this feature, could this be why more than 10 per cent of Google Chrome users reported security breaches, costing the average user over £300?"
But when it comes to being hacked online, baby boomers were 26 per cent more likely than average to feel worried by security warnings, while Gen Zers were 24 per cent more likely than average to feel annoyed.
The statement reads: "The research showed that younger users were much more likely to have received security alerts than older generations. Gen Zers, who tend to have more online accounts for shopping and spending digitally than other generations, received the most.
"Baby boomers received the least, but the difference in emotional reactions showed that even though younger generations received the most alerts, they didn't necessarily take them the most seriously.
"Perhaps these digital natives who freely share their data online at a higher rate than others are more desensitized to the dangers."
Following their research, the team are encouraging people to quickly respond to security alerts by changing their password and upping its complexity.
"Passwords are a significant factor in protecting online accounts. Google Chrome's autosave feature might make things easier for users, but it also might make things easier for hackers if the saved passwords aren't strong enough, the statement added.
"While younger people seemed more apathetic about keeping their accounts secure, account security is a serious issue. The majority chose to respond to security alerts by changing their password."
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