Google recently highlighted a worrying situation: more than 60% of US Gmail users received scam emails in 2024, and a third of them had their data stolen. The company offers advice on how to avoid this situation.
If you haven’t yet decided to change your passwords to more complex versions, or to activate two-factor authentication for your online accounts, perhaps this new study by Google and Morning Consult will motivate you to finally do so. Admittedly, this is a report that mainly concerns the United States, but the findings are so alarming that it seems unlikely that they will be confined to the USA.
The study reveals that over 60% of American consumers have seen an increase in attempted scams in 2024, and a third of them have personally experienced a personal data leak. Most of those surveyed pointed out that scam attempts are often carried out by text message, but 61% also indicated that they receive scams by e-mail.
What’s more, according to data compiled by the FBI, online scams will have enabled hackers and other fraudsters to extort 16.6 billion dollars from their victims in 2024, an increase of 33% in just one year. This colossal sum concerns the United States alone.
Google recommends extensive account security
The Mountain View company stresses that securing online accounts such as Gmail remains one of the main shields against data theft and identity theft. This does not just apply to email: ideally, all sensitive accounts should be highly secure.
Today, “More than 60% of Gen Xers and baby boomers still use passwords as their primary method of logging in”, says Google. 30% are aware of other security solutions, but do not use them, “showing a reluctance to move away from traditional methods”.
The paradox is that ‘traditional’ passwords are not only not very secure today, but they are also restrictive: this explains why one user in two continues to write them down on a small piece of paper so as not to forget them.
Are passkeys the key to better digital hygiene?
The study does, however, show one positive trend: “Generation Z and millennials are making greater use of passkeys or connections via social networks”, explains Google.
Although still relatively unknown to the general public, passkeys are gaining ground in terms of modernising online identification methods. They offer public/private authentication via WebAuthn. This is a more secure solution than the traditional combination of password and SMS code or authentication application.
“Passkeys are phishing-resistant and secure by design. They inherently help to reduce attacks by cybercriminals, such as phishing, credential stuffing and other remote attacks. With passkeys, there are no passwords to steal, and no login data that can be used to carry out new attacks”, stresses the FIDO Alliance, an industry association specialising in data security.
Google is therefore encouraging Internet users to take an interest and eventually switch to passkeys, without imposing them. And for those who are really attached to passwords and two-factor authentication, the company points out that it offers Google Password Manager and Google Authenticator, two free and practical tools, although we understand that it is beginning to consider them as being on the way to obsolescence…
