Nan’s password is probably stronger than yours

Senior web users are often derisively and unfairly referred to as “silver surfers,” depicted as sitting millimetres from the screen typing in elaborate one-finger strokes.

However, here’s a truth bomb for all of you millennials who think your tech skills are up to snuff; 50+ folks’ passwords are probably more secure than yours.

A new survey from Gigya (via Qz.com), a firm that helps companies build relationships with website visitors, claims 18-34 years-olds are far more likely to create insecure passwords.

The survey of 4,000 adults shows 6.66 per cent of millennials use passwords like ‘password,’ ‘1234’ or their birthdays very often.

Only 2.2 per cent of those 51-69 year-olds surveyed followed suit.

At the other end of the scale, only 33% of 18-34 year-olds never used such terrible passwords, compared to 53% of those 51-69 year-olds.

The figures have translated into far less compromising of web accounts.

82% in the older age bracket said they’d experienced no unauthorised break-ins during the last years, while the 35 per cent of 18-34 years-olds had fallen victim.

So what’s all this down to? Laziness? A general feeling of invincibility?

Perhaps its due to folks in their 50s and 60s, having not grown up in this age of omnipresent internet are more likely to follow the advice of sites practically pleading with users to create complex passwords?