Company password management: 5 tested strategies
Password security can’t wait.
As the average cost of a data breach is 3.9 million USD, and as 81% of these breaches happen due to poorly managed passwords, a mistake inside company password management can cause great struggle for both small and big businesses to survive. Not even to mention the ruined reputation and lost users’ trust afterwards.
In most cases, it is cheaper to invest into secure company password management practices in advance than to wait… and then to recover from a cyber attack. So, how prepared is your company?
Does everyone in your company…
- Receive profound education about cybersecurity?
- Use a secure password manager, designed for company-wide needs?
- Use strong passwords to protect most sensitive data?
- Share passwords with clients and among employees securely?
- Track each share and change, applied to their passwords?
- Make sure that the passwords can only be accessed by the people that should have the access?
You’re not 100% sure these practices are implemented in your company? We’ve all been there.
And here’s how to solve it.
Employee education
Human error is responsible for 27% of data breaches in the U.S. That’s why having mandatory employee training sessions every few months (in the beginning, monthly) about cybersecurity, data breaches, secure and sustainable password management practices is more than a must. If you don’t have the time to go over each detail with your employees, feel free to point them to this blog, where we cover the most critical aspects of cyber and information security in your company.
Company password management tools
Using a secure password manager ensures that each employee takes care of his sensitive data properly. That is, no Sticky notes, no Word or Excel Sheets, no pieces of paper all around the desk for “storing” passwords can be acceptable. An enterprise password manager stores sensitive data in an environment that’s encrypted all the time, inaccessible by any outside intruders.
Strong passwords
Reused, weak passwords are still the most common cause of a data breach. Protecting sensitive data in the company with one of the most popular passwords out there as “password1”, “qwerty” and “123456” is an easy win for hackers. We advise to always use a built-in password generator(as online password generators have their own flaws) in a password manager you use, so that basic password security becomes a habit of each employee.
Sharing passwords
So far your employees have shared passwords with clients and among themselves via emails, social media chats and who knows what else? It’s time to stop them there for good, because such practice is a step towards a cyber attack. Instead, make sure all your employees use a secure password sharing feature inside a password manager. This way, none of the shared data “flies around” in an easily readable format, luring malicious actors.
Tracking password changes
When it comes to life-saving tips in any company password management, tracking who has your password, who shared it with whom, and who made even the slightest change to your data is crucial. Using a password manager with a History Log feature gives you absolute control over your data and processes in the company.
Don’t let your business wait a day longer. Once and for all protect sensitive data in your company before a cyber attack takes place. Because now you know where to start from.
Try out PassCamp – a team and security oriented solution for secure company password management – and take care of data security in your company well in advance.
