The Importance of Password Management for Your Workplace
Password management is an important aspect of any company's security protocols. Password Management has become increasingly necessary in recent years due to the increase in brute force attacks and phishing scams. Password Management allows users to safeguard their credentials against unauthorized access, which can protect both the user and the company from various threats. Password Management can include developing company-wide policies as well as implementing a Password Manager system for employees, so they are always using strong passwords that are difficult to crack.
As an employer, Password Management will provide a sense of security for both the company and employees alike. Password Manager tools are a great way to safeguard data from unauthorized access by creating strong passwords that would take hackers years to crack through brute force. Password Security is the best way to protect your company data.
This blog post will provide insight into why Password Management is crucial for organizations in today's remote world.
Why do you need a Password Manager?
A Password Manager will automatically create long and random-generated passwords. This, of course, doesn't guarantee that your data is immune to data breaches, but it will slow down most attempts to gain access to your data.
Password Managers also come with other features, such as Password strength checkers and Password managers that can be used on mobile devices. As your organization grows, security naturally becomes more of a risk, due to the many different potential entry points for onlookers to access your systems through.
Password Managers can ensure your Password Security is up to date while allowing you to manage access for your teams from a central location rather than unsecured spreadsheets and sticky notes creatively placed on computer monitors or desk phones.
People won’t use strong passwords voluntarily.
Password Managers can provide admins with a password quality report, which includes all of the passwords created by users and their associated strength level for each password. Password Strength reports are extremely useful when you need to enforce strong password rules across your organization.
Password managers also come with password checkers, which will test the strength of your passwords and alert you when a password is too weak.
Employees are more likely to follow password security guidelines when they are enforced through a password management tool rather than relying on employees to create and remember strong passwords on their own. Password management can be an overwhelming task for companies, and these tools can help streamline security across your organization.
People aren’t good at creating strong passwords.
A strong password must contain a random mix of numbers, symbols, uppercase letters, and lowercase letters. Although creating complex passwords for each account can be difficult, few people have the patience or skill to do so. Users no longer have to remember complex passwords since password managers use algorithms that generate secure passwords automatically and store them securely.
Don't repeat your passwords
If you're like most of the workforce out there, you're probably still using some variation of the password you created when you signed up for your very first ICQ or MSN Messenger account (yes, I know, I'm dating myself) and though this familiar strict of text and numbers is easy to remember, it can also be dangerous. Nobody can remember hundreds of distinct passwords, so they repeatedly use the same ones. Spicegirls123 forever!
This can prove to be bad in a business environment. One of the many risks that come with using the same password over and over again is that it opens up a gateway if your password is accessed through a vulnerable website. This implies that if one password is compromised, attackers may access numerous services simultaneously, obtaining data from each one along the way.
Using a password management program ensures that users can easily apply different passwords to each service thus limiting the damage should any one of them be compromised. In addition, password management solutions can monitor password usage and alert management and the employee when good password hygiene is not being practiced.
Lost passwords put additional strain on help desks
Most password managers, especially mobile versions, suggest against storing passwords in unencrypted files or on paper notes. As a result, users must commit them to memory. People forget as you might expect. Gartner predicts that 50% of help desk calls are for password resets. This costs a lot of money and takes up time for people in your organization.
Don't be fooled, browser-based password management is not secure.
Many modern browsers include a built-in basic function that lets you store passwords. The problem is that browser-based solutions are often ineffective at preventing security breaches. Many customers would default to using whatever the browser suggests without establishing a password management strategy, leaving their credentials vulnerable.
There is also an increased risk with this method for any employees that work outside of the office or home. Accessing secure work files and documents on public wifi networks like coffee shops and some co-working spaces increases your risk of being hacked or private information being accessed by onlookers. If remote workers have no option but to work outside of the home, then a secure VPN is also recommended to ensure that your organization's files and documents are always secure.
They enable two-factor authentication (2FA).
Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a security measure that requires users to use another form of identification, such as a response to a question challenge or a code sent to their phone, in addition to their passwords. Various two-factor authentication options are available from leading password managers; this extra layer of protection will be provided for everything kept in your password management solution.
Many Password Managers offer a range of features and benefits, but some are better than others. The aim is to find the right one for your business that you can manage easily and provides the best security possible with minimal risk of breaches or human error. Password managers need to be accessible across all devices - desktop computers, laptops, and tablets, so you can rest assured that authenticating access can be simple and straightforward. Our favourite is the Google Authenticator.
Keep track of compliance and identify issues as they arise.
Your organization can spend hours developing some of the best security procedures in the world but the simple fact remains that if they're ignored and or not enforced within your company, you're leaving yourself open to potential threats. Enterprise password management systems give IT departments insight into their staff's password use so that managers can find and fix non-compliancy. A single misplaced or stolen password can be catastrophic for your company. With audit and reporting features mandated by law, this danger can be entirely eliminated.
Where to start
You're most likely using an application like Google Sheets to "secure" your passwords. If you're doing this, then you're in a better spot than most organizations. Here is a list of some of the best password management tools available for teams today.
In conclusion
I hope this article answers the question of why password management is important for any size business or organization. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about the different password manager security solutions!
