In a recent Verizon Security report, it identified that 81% of all data breaches we caused by poor management of passwords. With poor passwords putting the reputation of businesses at high-risk, now is the time to take control of your passwords with the latest recommendations for password management and safeguarding of sensitive data.
Password hygiene matters
Passwords and good password etiquette are the very first line of defence for your devices and accounts. While 72% of UK businesses have a password policy in place, there a still 28% of businesses that are still not convinced of the consequences of poor password management.
Having poor passwords or even managing passwords incorrectly can leave your organisation and personal information susceptible to cybercrime and/or identify theft.
Keeper Security conducted a survey to unearth password negligence in the UK and US found that over half of their 4000+ respondents had been the victim of a cyberattack. 24% lost their social media logins and 15% of respondents are aware of their compromised passwords and its availability on the Dark Web!
Attackers use a variety of techniques to discover passwords, including social engineering, shoulder surfing, manual guessing, interception, brute force attacks or even buying them on the dark web.
Passwords are used at almost every point of our digital lives. Whether its social media, ecommerce sites, personal and/or business accounts and applications, it’s important to ensure that your data is secure and reduce cybercrime.
How to achieve good password etiquette
Poor passwords present a severe vulnerability to the business and your personal information. Not only can login credentials can be stolen to access your data and systems, but they can also be used to steal your identity and use it to trick others close to you.
Here are the steps you can take to achieve good password etiquette:
- Use long, strong, auto-generated passwords where necessary
- Regularly change your password
- Monitor logins to detect unusual activity
- Leverage MFA and Password Managers to strengthen your accounts
- Implement technical controls to limit common password choices
- Never share your password
Leverage technical solutions for secure passwords and account protection
Multi-factor Authentication can be a great way to further secure accounts and applications using additional layers of security. This can be by using an authenticator app like Microsoft Authenticator or using a pin-code sent via email or SMS.
Password managers, also known as password vaults, that offer a central location to store and manage passwords have been around for a while and are recommended by the National Cyber Security Centre, but are they fit to serve your business? Many of the well-known vaults lend themselves best to the individual ‘private user’ and can represent quite a high expense for a business or organisation.
In contrast, we provide our own Password Management service that is tailored to you and supported by us.
How our Password Management service can help you
- Adherence – enforcing your IT security policy and creating a healthy security culture can be challenging. Having appropriately secure passwords should be at the top of any security policy, but it can be difficult to enforce. Our solution enables you to ensure that all passwords meet your specified standard.
- Cost – our solution, which is tailored to the needs of a business, can be more cost-effective than many of its well-known competitors. It’s also charged for on a monthly basis, meaning it can be included within your monthly IT support costs, rather than being a one-off annual payment.
- Business and personal – protecting staff, both in and outside of work, will make your IT infrastructure more secure. Our solution also provides staff with a personal password manager for private use, so you can encourage a healthy attitude towards security in all environments.
- A secure list – if you’re not using a vault service, chances are you have a ‘master list’ of all passwords, most likely in the form of a spreadsheet. Whilst this may be password protected, this is generally an unsecured and inefficient way to store login credentials. With our password manager, your ‘master list’ is easy to edit and search, and exists in a highly secure environment.
Managed by someone you trust
With implementation managed by us, the onus on you and your team to immediately know the ins and outs of the system is significantly reduced.
There’s an advantage to keeping everything under one roof, too. If you are already receiving IT support from Air IT, having us manage your first line of defence means that we can further ensure your overall security.
It won’t be ‘yet another licence’ for you to manage, as renewals will be taken care of by us.
How can Air IT help?
We can help you to create and implement your entire IT security policy – with our Password Management service as part of your package.
We also offer user awareness training, which can further ensure adherence to your security policy and create a positive cyber security culture.
If you’d like to find out more, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Download the ebook
Employees and their passwords are the first lines of defence when it comes to keeping hackers at bay. In our ebook, IT and business leaders can learn why password and login security is so important and what you can do to protect your accounts.
You’ll learn:
- Why password and login security is so important
- What makes a good password
- How to manage employee passwords easily
- Ways of protecting staff accounts
- How Air IT can help with your password policy
