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Stuart Gentle Publisher at Onrec

Revealed: Job hunting mistakes that could leave Brits vulnerable to hackers

New research from the UK’s leading independent job board, CV-Library, has found that while over half (59%) of Brits worry about information from their CV being stolen, many are making simple mistakes which could leave them vulnerable to hackers.

In fact, the study, which surveyed 2,000 members of the working population, found that the majority of Brits include unnecessary personal information on their CVs, including their full name (90.3%), postal address (78.5%), date of birth (50.5%), contact details for referees (35.8%), place of birth (16.3%) and their national insurance number (10.3%).

Lee Biggins, founder and managing director of CV-Library, comments:

“Your skills, experience and what makes you relevant for the job should be the main focus of your CV. Personal details like your date or place of birth and your national insurance number are completely unnecessary and we’d strongly advise that you don’t give this type of information out.

“Of course, it’s not unusual to include your full name or postal address, especially as your location can improve your CV’s chances of being found on a job board, but it’s important to be wary about the type of information you’re giving out and who it’s going to.”

What’s more, while four in 10 (43%) worry that someone could secure a job based on the personal details on their CV, one in five (19%) respondents said that they’d used the same password to register their CV online as they had for their personal email account. This is despite 83.4% of Brits being aware that a hacker could access their personal details if they were to get into their emails.

One in five (22.2%) professionals said that they have been hacked, rising to 30.6% for individuals based in Wales, 29.3% in East Anglia, 27% in the South West and 26.7% in Northern Ireland. Of those that have been hacked, 89.9% said that this caused them to feel stressed.

Biggins continues: “Not only is your email account a gateway to a vast amount of information, hackers could also use your email account to access many of your other personal accounts. Therefore, it’s important to follow the government’s advice on using a strong and separate password for email accounts, as well as installing the latest software and app updates.

“With campaigns like Cyber Aware working hard to combat cyber crime and help people to conduct a secure job search, we hope that job hunters across the UK can focus on producing a winning CV and secure the right role for them.

The Government’s Cyber Aware campaign is highlighting the importance of making #OneReset to your email password so it’s strong and separate from all your other passwords this National Cyber Security Awareness Month.

Cyber Aware has the following five tips for staying more secure online:

  • Use a strong and separate password for your email
  • Always download the latest software & app updates
  • Activate two step authentication on your email
  • Use password managers to store passwords for your less important accounts
  • Avoid clicking on suspicious links