McAfee: 'P@ssw0rd predicaments - challenging your memory to maintain your security'

'passwords are not being changed with the recommended frequency - 43 percent of us keep the same password and only 11% change it the recommended three times per year.'

Whether we like it or not, passwords are now a part of our everyday lives. Regardless of if we're accessing corporate systems, booking our holidays or switching on our mobile phones, passwords are the key to the doors of many of our personal and professional activities. With the Internet playing an increasingly pivotal role in all areas of work and play, the average user has a growing number of passwords to remember. Herein lies the challenge.

This highlights the issues that we are all facing - if we don't have passwords that are memorable, we can easily find ourselves locked out of much-needed systems, yet if our passwords are too simple, they can be cracked, giving access to valuable personal information that can lead to online fraud or identity theft, and can even compromise the security of sensitive corporate information.

This all seems fairly straightforward, yet the research of 3,500 computer users across Europe revealed that one third are using passwords of only one to six characters, while almost a quarter are using all alpha characters. Moreover, with the most popular password being the name of our pet, it's evident that computer users are using information that is easy to come by and not made more secure by mixing letters and numbers. Not only that, but passwords are not being changed with the recommended frequency - 43 percent of us keep the same password and only 11% change it the recommended three times per year. It seems that one stroke of luck for a malicious-minded hacker could put significant amounts of personal information at risk for an unlimited period of time.

Our somewhat lackadaisical approach to passwords is not limited to our PCs, with only one third of mobile phone users protecting their mobile device with a password. This is not just about making sure that anyone steeling your phone can't make unlimited calls but also about protecting the information that is stored on your device, whether that's passwords, personal data and even important information included in emails stored on that device.

The solution is fairly simple - choose strong passwords, consisting of a combination of letters and numbers, change them regularly and don't tell anyone your passwords. Activating the PIN on your mobile phone, changing it from the default number will also help to keep the information on your mobile device more secure. If you run a business, make sure your employees aren't bringing bad password habits into the office, potentially putting sensitive corporate date at risk, by introducing a password policy, outlining how passwords should be chosen and managed, and make sure that it is enforced. The most simple steps really can go a long way to reducing the risk or fraud or data loss.