Passwords for this, passwords for that... The average person has to remember around 100 in all. We don’t know about you, but we can barely remember the coffee on top of our car. Again.

You could keep all of your passwords on sticky notes or in a rolodex to carry them around everywhere you go... or... the better option would be to use a password manager. Some offer free versions to get you started. 

Interested in learning more about password managers? Keep reading! We’ve got a great blog for you in a second.

In the meantime, we wanted to share this resource summarizing the risks of reusing a password- just for you!

Cisco, a worldwide leader of network, security, and cloud solutions was breached recently. Remember all of those times in all those places we’ve mentioned 82% of breaches involve a human element? The Cisco breach was caused by someone who saved a work password on a personal account – that’s all it took. Through social engineering, the employee was convinced to accept an MFA push notification.  

Cisco Talos shares insights related to recent cyber attack | Cisco

Key Takeaways: 

1. “User education is paramount in thwarting such attacks, including making sure employees know the legitimate ways that support personnel will contact users so that employees can identify fraudulent attempts to obtain sensitive information.”
   
   Read more: Why You Need to Implement Cyber Security Training Today
    
2. Implement a strong device verification strategy by enforcing stricter controls around device statuses. This will limit improper usage and access from dangerous devices.
    
3. The compromised user would have benefited from a standalone password manager since part of the problem was their Google account syncing with Chrome’s password manager. 
   
   

If you have yet to be compromised, you may be asking "why would I change what I'm doing?".

Well, according to a CNBC survey almost two-thirds of small business owners say they have no major concerns about being targeted by cybercriminals. But the reality of the situation? Small businesses make up almost half of all breaches. So, is it important to be proactive?

Why Proactive Cybersecurity Is a Must in Today’s Sophisticated Threat Environment | HS Today 

Key Takeaways: 

1. A successful cyber threat strategy is, at its core, more about risk mitigation and incident response than anything else. 
   
   

2. A cyber vulnerability risk assessment is foundational to the team-wide commitment to proactive cybersecurity.

    

   1. A comprehensive risk management approach should be truly comprehensive. It should include following cyber-hygiene best practices, advanced education and training, use policies and permissions guidelines, specifically configured network access, testing of code, security controls, applications, device management, application controls, and regular network audits.

       
3. “Because of the sophisticated and growing attack surface being exploited by hackers, testing needs to go beyond traditional vulnerability scanners and manual penetration testing. It also needs to be automated to keep up with the pace of change in the evolving cyber landscape.” 

Learn more about testing: Here's What You Need To Know About Penetration Testing

You’ve come all this way looking for news about a password manager, and we’re not going to disappoint you.

For the unacquainted, a password manager is a secure, internal program that stores all your passwords and other secure, un-losable information in one convenient location.

Depending on your exact program and needs, password managers can also generate passwords that are both unique and complex. These features, powered by encryption algorithms, make your random chain of letters, numbers, and punctuation that much more difficult to guess.

Link to the full blog: Top 5 Reasons Small Businesses Should Use a Password Manager

TIME.

Throw those sticky notes in the shredder and log into your new password manager. Rather than sitting and developing personalized, hyper-difficult ‘random’ passwords every time your team needs to set up a new account, the ability to create and save complex passwords in real-time is invaluable.

CONVENIENCE. 

Not only are you able to keep things stored and organized no matter where (device or location) your group logs in from, but all of their connected devices are able to autofill correct passwords as they are generated. 

MANAGEMENT. 

On the complete other side of the coin comes the ability to manage your passwords and identify who is utilizing which services through the program. And with buy-in being so critical for success in this undertaking, you need robust admin controls that automate key processes like password managers. 

COLLABORATION. 

You know how your relative always texts you and asks for the Netflix password? And you’re like, ‘You have to write it down somewhere so you’ll remember it’ and they're like ‘But you remember it for me’ and you’re like ‘That isn’t how it works’ and they're like ‘Yes it is.’...

So that’s a really good example of really bad collaboration, and password managers fix the entire scenario whether it’s about a shared family Netflix password or the random chain-style code for your team to access a shared email account. Instead of texting passwords back and forth every time something is updated, everyone who needs access has access to the new password right away.

Conclusion

You see, passwords are meant to keep us safe, so just like avoiding those regular checkups with the doctor, keeping up poor password health is bad news in the long term. Businesses from Mom & Pop’s Pop Up Soda Pop Shop to Cisco are at risk, but there are plenty of ways to mitigate major disasters. 

Give us a call at (864) 552-1291 and we'll help you evaluate your capabilities and options for password managers and more! Also, consider following us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter!