Spy agency points finger at common password habits

In five years time passwords could be a thing of the past for Australians.

The nation's top cyber spy agency is warning against using common passwords as cyber attacks costs cause business costs to soar.

Cybercrime reports have dropped but businesses face a bigger financial impact from them, the Australian Signals Directorate's annual cyber threat report released on Tuesday reveals.

Directorate director-general Abigail Bradshaw hopes that in five years' time the nation moves on from using passwords.

"I hope it (using passwords) is over. This is the thing that concerns us most," Ms Bradshaw told AAP.

"All accounts must have multi-factor authentication. Change your passwords increasingly regularly.

"Don't use it across multiple devices."

Networks are increasingly being breached thro