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Most Companies Miss Easiest Ways to Boost Workplace Cybersecurity

Despite increasing attention to cybersecurity and a seemingly constant stream of high-profile data breaches, the primary security method used in businesses worldwide remains the simple password. According to a recent study, the average person now has 19 passwords to remember, so it is not surprising that the vast majority of passwords are, from a security perspective, irrefutably bad, including sequential numbers, dictionary words or a pet’s name.

A new report by software firm Software Advice found that 44% of employees are not confident about the strength of their passwords. While many felt their usage was either extremely or very secure, the group reported, “our findings suggest that users either remain unaware of the rules despite the hype, do not believe them to be good advice or simply find them too burdensome, and thus opt for less secure passwords.

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Among the biggest password sins employees commit:

Employee Password Worst Practices

But company culture and IT leadership may be partly to blame. “If management is lax about enforcing best practices, then leadership must share the blame when workers take shortcuts—and perhaps even accept the lion’s share of it,” the report reads.

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Only 54% of businesses require complex passwords, and other shortcomings in best practice enforcement include:

Enforced Workplace Password Best Practices

White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Michael Daniel has previously said that he “would love to kill the password dead as a primary security method,” and 14% of companies are leading the charge, using biometric identification instead. Clearly, however, there is plenty that IT departments can implement now to boost cybersecurity without adopting advanced and costly measures like retina scans or fingerprints.

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Don’t Get Careless with Your Passwords

With stories of identity theft and data breaches hitting the news on an almost constant basis, it’s no wonder that we all get a little tired of hearing how about how at risk we are from the prying eyes of cybercriminals. Of course, if you’re the victim of some sort of hacking incident, you’ll probably wish you paid more attention. The problem is that we have passwords for everything and keeping track of all of them is a giant hassle.

As the following infographic from security software provider ZoneAlarm demonstrates, this password fatigue tends to make us a little careless and puts us at greater risk. A strong password is the front line to keeping your data safe, so old standbys like “password” and “12345” are not going to cut it. There are many helpful guides out there for creating secure passwords that you can actually remember, so maybe it’s time to choose a new strategy. It certainly beats cleaning the bathroom (regardless of what 38% of people said below).

 

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