Breached passwords pose a significant threat to an organization's cybersecurity, causing immense headaches and vulnerabilities. A staggering majority of data breaches, over 80%, can be attributed to passwords. Hackers exploit the vulnerability of stolen, weak, or easily breached passwords to gain unauthorized access to online accounts and business networks.
But passwords are a part of life for now, until technologies like biometrics or passkeys replace them. We use passwords every day, so, companies need a secure way to share passwords with employees. As well as help them manage those passwords more effectively. This folds into a larger cybersecurity program for your employees, where they are taught cyber hygiene skills to keep them safe online.
Cybersecurity threats are rampant and safeguarding sensitive information has never been more critical. Properly managing passwords securely is a top priority. At the same time, employees deal with more passwords than ever. LastPass estimates that people have an average of 191 work passwords.
Since you can’t get around passwords, how do you share them with employees safely? Our answer: A password manager.
Let’s explore the benefits of password managers next. We'll also delve into why it's one of the most secure ways to share passwords with employees.
Password managers provide a fortified digital vault to protect your passwords. With separate compartments for work and personal passwords, business versions also offer specialized administrative features to ensure critical passwords are never lost.
Here are some of the reasons to consider getting a password manager for better cyber hygiene.
A primary advantage of password managers is their ability to centralize password management. They keep employees from using weak, repetitive passwords. And from storing them in vulnerable places. Instead, a password manager stores all passwords in an encrypted vault. This centralization not only boosts security but also simplifies the secure sharing of passwords within a team, creating a seamless and efficient process.
Leading password managers use robust encryption techniques to protect sensitive data. End-to-end encryption scrambles passwords. It turns them into unreadable text when stored and transmitted. This makes it nearly impossible for unauthorized users to access the information.
When sharing passwords with employees, encryption provides an extra layer of security. It helps ensure that the data remains confidential even during transmission.
Password managers typically include secure password-sharing capabilities that enable administrators to share passwords with team members without disclosing the actual password.
Instead, employees can access the required credentials without seeing the characters. This ensures that employees do not have direct access to sensitive information. This feature is particularly useful when onboarding new team members. As well as when collaborating on projects that require access to specific accounts.
Make sure the password manager you select supports multi-factor authentication. This adds an extra and important layer of security. MFA requires two or more forms of verification before accessing an account.
MFA significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized access. According to Microsoft, it lowers the risk by 99.9%. This makes it an essential feature for businesses looking to enhance password security. Especially when sharing sensitive information with employees.
Password managers often include a handy tool called password generators. These generators create robust and intricate passwords that are highly resistant to cracking. When it comes to sharing passwords with your employees, you can rely on these generated passwords to ensure that each account is protected by a strong and unique password.
By utilizing password generators, you can eliminate the common practice of using weak passwords or reusing passwords across multiple accounts. This invaluable feature effectively mitigates the risk of potential security breaches, providing an additional layer of protection for your organization's sensitive information.
Monitoring is a valuable feature offered by many password managers. It provides the ability to track user activity and access history. Admins can track who accessed which passwords and when. This provides transparency and accountability within the organization.
This audit trail helps in identifying any suspicious activities. It also allows companies to take prompt action. This ensures the security of the shared passwords.
Password managers offer secure methods for sharing credentials with third-party collaborators or contractors. Businesses can provide restricted access to specific passwords for external parties.
This is especially great for companies working with external agencies or freelancers on various projects. It keeps control of the passwords within the organization.
You also never have to worry about losing a password when the only employee who knows it leaves.
Password management is just one part of the managed security program offered by Cyber-Watch. Reach out to us today to learn more about how we can help your organization implement cyber hygiene practices and solutions.