Generation Z, Millennials more lax about cybersecurity than their older counterparts

It may seem that the Millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996) and the representatives of Generation Z (those born between 1997 and 2012) are better versed in modern technology than their older counterparts, and therefore will approach cybersecurity issues with greater responsibility and literacy, especially at work. But as it turns out, this is not the case at all.

According to a survey conducted by Ernst & Young, young employees are actually more lax than their mature and even elder counterparts when it comes to ensuring cybersecurity in their workplace.

For example, Generation Z and Millennials are far more likely to use the same password for professional and personal accounts and to ignore required updates than their older counterparts.

But at the same time, young employees are more responsible for the security of their own gadgets than office devices; a total of 48% of representatives of Generation Z and 39% of Millennials have admitted this.

A survey titled "Human risk in the field of cybersecurity" conducted this year revealed that:

• 83% of employees surveyed in the US are aware of their employers' cybersecurity policies, but representatives of Generation Z and Millennials are much less likely to follow these rules.
  
  
• 76% of cross-generational workers feel they have enough knowledge about cybersecurity, but younger workers who grew up in the Internet age and have been surrounded by cyber risks for most of their lives are far more likely to ignore mandatory IT updates (compared to, for example, 58% of Generation Z employees, 42% of Millennials, 31% of Generation X (born 1965-1980), and 15% of Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) ignore these updates).
  
  
• Younger employees are more likely to use the same password for their professional and personal accounts (30% of Generation Z, 31% of Millennials, 22% of Generation X, and 15% of Baby Boomers).
  
  
• Younger employees are more likely to always or frequently accept web browser cookies on their work devices (Generation Z: 48%, Millennials: 43%, Generation X: 31%, and Baby Boomers: only 18%).
  
  
• It turns out that by all accounts, Baby Boomers take the most responsible approach to the cybersecurity of workplace devices.

The results of this survey, according to experts, should encourage company managers and employees responsible for the security of IT infrastructure to review their approaches to cybersecurity.