Security and privacy are increasingly making major headlines–most recently with the recent US National Security Administration (NSA) email and phone surveillance activities and huge data breaches like the one at Target. A recent study from network security software provider Fortinet, however, reveals a generation gap between Gen-Xers and Millenials in online and mobile security worries and behaviors.
Fortinet surveyed 150 Gen-X workers (ages 33-48) and 150 Millenials (ages 18-32), with an even split between male and female respondents. The results reveal how Millennials and Gen-X differ in regards to passwords, online marketing practices, email snooping, and their personal data–with Millennials generally more likely to use and change passwords, yet also showing less concern for their role in protecting work-related information.
Password Best Practices
The survey revealed 41% of both Millennials and Gen-X never change their online password or only change it when prompted. Of the respondents who signaled they are vigilant about changing their passwords, 16% (19% Millennial, 13% Gen-X) change them once a month, 30% (25% Millennial, 35% Gen-X) change them every three months and 9% (11% Millennial, 7% Gen-X) change them at least once a year.
When asked if they had a password to access their phone, 57% said they did, while 43% said they did not. Apparently, Gen-X is more trusting in this regard, with 49% saying they do not use a mobile device password, while a fewer number of Millennials (37%) admitted to not having a password on their device. Of those who admitted to using a password on their mobile device, the most popular type by far was the simple 4-digit pin (numeric password), taking the top spot at 47%. Complex passwords, such as alphanumeric, letters and numbers, came in second with 26%. This was closely followed by pattern (i.e., triangle, square) at 21%. And in last place was biometric (i.e., facial recognition, fingerprint) at 5%.
With regard to how respondents handled passwords for the Internet accounts they use, it appears many are getting the message that it’s important to have different passwords for every site that requires one, but there’s still room for improvement. 40% of all respondents said they have a different password for every online account they use, 46% admit to having different passwords for at least a few of the sites they visit. 7% use different passwords for their most sensitive accounts and another 7% are using the same password for all accounts.
The Value of Personal Data
To determine the value of personal data, the groups were asked to rank in order of importance the following data types that they would be most afraid of losing; medical information, mailing address, email address, financial statements, educational information, social security number, tax returns, personal files, work files, online passwords, contents of emails, Internet browsing history, online purchasing history and IP address.
Both Millennial and Gen-X groups stated that their social security number was the most important piece of data they were afraid of losing. Given the significant profits that many have made in cryptocurrency investing, protecting these assets came in second. Both groups also agreed that online passwords ranked third in terms of data importance.
But that’s where the similarity ends. Millennials ranked online purchasing history as fourth and the contents of emails as fifth. Gen-Xers, on the other hand, said their mailing address was the second most important piece of data they’d hate to have stolen. Internet browsing history came in fourth and work files came in fifth.
That the importance of work emails didn’t rank in the top five for Millennials “is a tad concerning” says John Maddison, VP of marketing for Fortinet, who cited similar Millennial attitudes towards BYOD in the survey the company ran last October. It found that 51% of Millennials would contravene company policies restricting the use of their own devices, cloud storage and wearable technologies for work. “Taken together, Millennials are essentially saying, ‘We don’t care what our employers say. We’ll use whatever device we want to at work and if businesses data gets lost or goes missing, too bad.’”
Email Snooping
When asked about the recent NSA email spying revelations, 44% of respondents felt that the government agency overstepped its bounds (41% of Millennials and 47% of Gen-X); 20% don’t have a strong opinion about their actions (22% of Millennials and 18% of Gen-X); 19% feel that the government is doing what’s necessary to protect the US, and are acting in the best interest of the people (23% of Millennials and 15% of Gen-X); and 17% acknowledged that they don’t know anything about what’s going on with the NSA (14% of Millennials and 21% Gen-X).
Applying the NSA snooping revelations to employers, the researchers asked each group how they would feel if their employer inspected their online activity and communications. Only 12% felt they were only doing what was necessary (16% of Millennials and 9% of Gen-X). 38% (37% Millennials, 39% Gen-X) said they were okay with the monitoring only if they were inspecting activity at work for work. A full 39% of both demographic groups said any type of corporate monitoring is out of bounds, 3% of both groups have no opinion, and 8% (5% Millennials, 11% Gen-X) aren’t sure how they feel about corporate snooping.
When asked which of the following online activities they expected to be private; personal email, work email, social media posts, text messages, Web history, location info, phone audio, online purchasing history and anything related to the Internet of Things (IoT), 50+% of both Millennials and Gen-Xers believed that all of those activities, except social media posts should be private. 59+% of both groups agreed that social media posts shouldn’t have the same expectation of privacy.
Online Marketing Practices
Finally, the groups were asked which personal pieces of personal information they would be willing to share with marketers: personal email, personal phone number, postal address, access to social media accounts, or none of the above. Personal email address came out on top at 50% (53% Millennials 46% Gen-X). This was followed by none of the above at 38% (35% Millennials, 41% Gen-X). Personal mailing address came in second place at 33% (31% Millennials, 35% Gen-X), which was closely followed by personal phone number at 26% (28% Millennials, 25% Gen-X). And coming in at the bottom was sharing access to social media accounts at 9% (9% Millennial, 8% Gen-X).
More specifically, the groups were asked about their social media privacy settings. It turns out 38% (41% Millennials, 35% Gen-X) of respondents say they use very strict privacy settings in their social media applications. 41% (40% Millennials, 43% Gen-X) use privacy settings to limit only certain information, 16% (15% Millennial, 17% Gen-X) use the application’s default privacy settings and 5% (4% Millennials, 5% Gen-X) don’t use any privacy settings at all.
When asked if any of the respondents were at all worried that any of their personal identifying information, such as vacation plans, work info, etc., could be shared or used against them, 28% (27% Millennials, 28% Gen-X) said they were worried, 18% (25% Millennials, 11% Gen-X) are only worried if the information was shared with marketers, 19% (21% Millennials, 17% Gen-X) said they’re not worried at all, 30% (23% Millennials, 37% Gen-X) said they don’t post personal information, while 5% (3% Millennials, 7% Gen-X) don’t know how they feel about this.
Research for the Gen X vs. Millennials Study was conducted by GMI, a division of Lightspeed Research, a provider of technology for market research. For more about the study, contact Fortinet.
Want to keep up with more news and trends about mobile or online security? You can bookmark security news and features page, which is updated almost daily.
