Survey Shows Strong Tie Between Physical and Digital Security Risks

ADT and McAffe recently released the results of a survey about the relationship between digital and physical security. The study shows that while 67 percent of smartphone users are password-protected, 49 percent of them admitted to sharing their password.

ADT and McAfee released the results of a survey that takes a look at the important parallels between personal and online security. When asked, 39 percent of respondents said they use technological devices to control their home security systems and 34 percent use smartphones to do so. Alongside our appetite for such advanced technologies, so grows our need for protection of the digital devices that control them. Data from this survey suggests that our digital and physical lives are now fully intersected.

As technological advances enable us to control products in the home from within or from afar, we will need to ensure that both our physical and digital selves are strongly protected. Smartphone users who do not use password protection to prevent unauthorized access should take simple steps toward protecting their devices.

Commissioned by The Futures Company, the joint survey of more than 1,000 consumers shows that more than 51 percent of respondents reported having their personal security compromised through both physical and online breaches. When asked to define “personal security,” approximately 77 percent of survey participants consider it to intertwine both physical and online security, providing further insight that our digital and physical lives have merged into one.

Leaving the Door Open to Security Risks
Device proliferation has made digital security increasingly important—critical even—as our identities and personal devices are more susceptible to security breaches. While 31 percent of respondents of the survey said their smartphone presented the most potential for security risk and 49 percent stated that their computers are more vulnerable, 41 percent still fear losing smartphones most in a public setting. Though this is the case, respondents did not seem too concerned with protecting them, and many are comfortable sharing their passwords with others. Two in 3 smartphone users (67 percent) and tablet users (65 percent) report that they protect their devices with a password, yet nearly half (49 percent) admitted to sharing their password with at least one other person, risking their personal security and all the data found on their device.

Since more than 33 percent of people use their devices to control to their physical alarm systems, and more than half of them fail to secure their devices with basic protection like private passwords, it seems our need for awareness in security is as great as the need for security itself.

Among those who have experienced a home break-in, 59 percent reported a computer or mobile device among stolen items—leaving their personal data in the hands of thieves.  Reportedly, an estimated 1.6 million Americans have their smartphones stolen in 2012. This is especially important considering 30 percent of Android and Windows smartphone users and 50 percent of iPhone users don’t lock their mobile devices.