More than half (60%) of workers aged between 16 and 34-years-old admit sharing passwords with colleagues in the workplace, according to a report by Dashlane.

The research is based on a survey of 3,000 workers in the UK, France and the US. Worryingly, one-quarter of 16-34-year-olds admit to storing their passwords on scrap paper and post-it notes around the office.

The lack of security purging is also highlighted as a problem; 45% of workers said they could access old colleagues’ systems and email by using old, unchanged passwords.

Seven in ten of those polled across all age groups admitted they didn’t know their employers’ policy on password security. The report claims this often leads to those taking a “path of least resistance” approach to password usage.

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And almost half (42%) said this lack of strong guidance leads to workplace efficiency being impacted in some way. Examples can include getting locked out of key services and not knowing the right code for password retrieval.

Guillaume Desnoës, head of European markets at Dashlane, said the research demonstrated a “lackadaisical approach to the management of company confidential data”.

“[This is] being driven by the influx of ‘millennials’ entering the workplace,” he continued.

“Having grown up with the sharing culture of social media, this age group has become slightly casual when it comes to their security and this has the potential to have an impact in the business world.

“This could soon cause real headaches for IT departments at big firms and the owners of small businesses.”

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