Did you know that employees at 42% of organizations use sticky notes to manage passwords? It goes without saying that this isn’t a very secure form of password management.
Login passwords are becoming a more frequent target of hackers because so much of a company’s data has moved to the cloud and can be accessed with an account username and password.
A big part of a company’s cybersecurity efforts need to include access management, which means finding a way to keep passwords better protected.
The main struggle for companies and password security includes these two opposing forces:
- Passwords need to be long, strong, and unique
- Employees have to use too many passwords to possibly remember
So, what happens is that people usually take one or both of these two approaches. One is the use of easy-to-remember passwords and using only a few for all logins (reusing them). The second is to use an unsecure method of storing passwords, such as a spreadsheet or their contacts application.
Both of these approaches leave accounts vulnerable to being breached and taken over by a hacker.
77% of cloud account data breaches are due to compromised passwords.
One tool that can solve the “too many passwords to remember” problem is a password manager.
Benefits of Using a Business Password Manager
A password manager is an application that acts as a secure encrypted vault for all user passwords. The encryption key is stored locally, meaning the vendor doesn’t have access to user passwords, which makes them less likely to be breached.
The business version of password managers allows businesses to maintain control of company logins and add employees to their business account. Employees will also often get the ability to also use the app for personal passwords as well as business, kept in two separate areas.
Why use a business password manager?
Users Only Need to Remember One Strong Password
A password manager solves the problem users have with trying to remember all their passwords. The password manager “remembers” them all, and users only need to remember a single strong password to access all the others.
Passwords are Stored Securely
When a user is storing passwords in a spreadsheet or their contacts application, these are both unsecure, leaving the passwords open to being stolen by anyone that gains access to their system by bypassing device security.
Sticky notes are no better and leave passwords easily in view. They can also be picked up accidentally in the background of a photo that gets posted online.
Password managers use strong device level AES-256 encryption. They also use what’s known as a “zero-knowledge” security model, which means even the password manager provider doesn’t have access to your passwords.
Solves the Problem with Weak Passwords
Because users no longer need to remember all those passwords, they can create strong and unique passwords for each login.
The password manager will suggest strong passwords that are a long combination of letters, numbers, and symbols. This significantly increases account security by making it much more difficult for a hacker to guess an account password.
Keeps Companies from Getting Locked Out of an Account
If an employee leaves suddenly and is the only one with the login to your company’s social media accounts, it means you could be locked out of your own online tools.
With a business password manger, companies can set an administrator that can access employee business passwords when needed. This means you never have to worry about losing access to an account, because it’s not employee dependent.
More Efficient & Secure Offboarding Process
When an employee leaves your company, there are multiple accounts that either need to be deactivated or have their passwords changed to ensure the former employee can’t access them.
This can be time consuming because you have to change each account individually, and thus some companies put this off and don’t get around to it in a timely manner.
What can happen if you don’t terminate former employee access to business accounts in a timely manner?
One example is a data privacy violation. Earlier this year, the City of New Haven, CT was hit with a $202,400 HIPAA penalty because it failed to terminate a former employee’s access to protected health information in a company system.
When you use a business password manager, all passwords are stored in the system, and it only takes a moment to revoke the employee’s ability to access the password manager. This gives you more time to get to each individual account and makes the offboarding process more efficient.
You Can Use It for Other Sensitive Information
Take advantage of the encryption capabilities of a password manager by using it for other sensitive data as well.
For example, you can use it to store things like:
- Company credit card information
- Website login and FTP details
- Tax ID and business license information
Keep Your Business More Secure with Quantum Care
Quantum PC Services offers Quantum Care to Sturgeon Bay area businesses. This cybersecurity package includes multiple protections to increase your overall business and account security.
Contact us today to learn more! Call 920-256-1214 or reach us online.
