Password Management – How secure is your password?

There aren’t many human minds that can remember a “complex” password for every website or software tool they use within the workplace. And because we have to create a password for nearly every website we visit, the same password or with little variation is often used. The websites used can be far reaching including:

• LinkedIn with customer or prospect conversations
• Marketing Tools including customer and prospect data
• Accountancy software
• HMRC and tax systems
• Middleware or CRM applications
• Personal web based email used on a work computer
• Suppliers which hold company bank details or credit card details

The list is endless.

The risk of using the same password is that when (not if) the next website or software tool is hacked there is a risk that this password, associated with the company email address, is exposed.

Data obtained from these websites is often then sold onto the dark web. Cybercriminals will use this data to try to access other accounts on other sites and platforms which could potentially expose company data and result in a data breach – or worse, data loss or deletion.

How secure is your password?

Using a secure and different password each time is important to protect your account and company data.

A very strong password would look something like this “horses-garage-bark1!”.

You can check how secure your password is by using an online tool such as this one: http://www.passwordmeter.com/

Two Factor Authentication

Two factor (2FA) or multi factor authentication (MFA) is where a code is sent to your email or phone, adding another layer of login security.

However, you can’t rely on 2FA alone because some websites or tools still don’t use it. Whilst it should be setup and configured where possible, it isn’t always the case.

That’s why, despite advances in security technology, it is still important to use unique, very strong passwords.

How can I use more secure passwords?

The answer is to use a Password Management tool. These tools integrate with your web browser and store, as well as generate, passwords for each of your websites, online accounts and online tools.

A password management tool will remember all of the hard to remember complex passwords for you and automatically populate these into your computer or device. They can be centrally managed by your IT team or IT provider for security control and can run across multi platforms and browsers.

This is why we have partnered with a leading software provider, SolarWinds, to give our clients direct and immediate control and secure password management.

For more information about using Password Management within your business contact our team today.