3 Password Security Rules that employees disregard

by | July 28, 2021 | How to

As it shows in a Keeper Security Workplace Password Malpractice Report, many employees aren’t taking all the necessary measures regarding password security.

The Keeper Password Security Study surveyed 1,000 employees

Unfortunately, workers weren’t following the best practices in maintaining the security of their passwords even after the immense increase in remote work.

In February 2021 Keeper surveyed 1,000 employees in the U.S. regarding their work-related password security practices. The results are concerning and show that many of the employees weren’t taking seriously the importance of protecting their passwords.

Here are three of the most serious rules of security passwords there’re ignoring.

Store the passwords securely for great password security

When it comes to passwords, everything we do is vital, whether it is creating them or just storing them. As such, once you have a strong word-related password, store it securely. Do your employees know how to store correctly their passwords and how to protect them from social engineering attacks?

Store the passwords securely for great password security

57% of Keeper’s respondents admitted to writing their passwords on sticky notes and a concerning percentage, of 62%, write down their passwords in a notebook or journal, leaving them in places where other people have access.

Moreover, 49% stored their passwords in a document saved in the cloud and 51% stored them locally on their computer, while 55% saved them on their phone. Unfortunately, these documents aren’t encrypted, any data breach on their drive, computer, or mobile phone offer cybercriminals access to passwords.

Never share work-related passwords outside the organization

As tempting as it can be, never share your password with unauthorized parties. Password and valuable and confidential business information you should keep to yourself and not share not even with your wife.

Never share work-related passwords outside the organization

Keeper’s survey showed that 14% of the participants shared work-related passwords with their wives. About 11% of the employees questioned by Keeper confessed that they shared their passwords with people outside their work.

Under these circumstances, the passwords are given to phishers on a silver platter.

Security Awareness Training helps employees prevent password malpractice.

Sharing passwords within the workplace only with end-to-end encryption  

The only secure way of sharing passwords within the workplace is with full end-to-end encryption. Share the password only with authorized parties and prevent data breaches.

Keeper’s survey showed that a worrying percentage of employees superficially look at password security when sharing passwords with their colleagues. More exactly, 62% of respondents share passwords through unencrypted email or text messages.

Do your employees take their work-related passwords seriously? You can test them today and find out how will your company manage in case of a phishing attack! Our Free Cybersecurity Awareness Training Test is a great opportunity to find out more about the seriousness with which your employees regard password security.

Attributions:

by Doina Voicu

There’s no reason to postpone training your employees

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