Password security trap
According to a study, only slightly more than 38 percent of users use a password manager to automatically store passwords. In fact, 34 percent of respondents still write down their passwords the old-fashioned way in a notebook.
The New York IT company Beyond Identity surveyed around 1,000 employees on how they handle passwords. According to the results, identity management is often handled carelessly in everyday work. For example, according to the survey, one in four employees still has access to accounts at previous workplaces. A little more than 40 percent share their passwords at work, for example, and one in five employees uses the same password for work-related accounts as for their private bank account, for example.
A majority of respondents said they do not remember their supposedly secure passwords using really secure methods. Surprisingly, 34 percent of survey participants, for example, still write down their passwords the old-fashioned way in a notebook or on a piece of paper. 42.5 percent state that, in their opinion, sharing passwords at work should be grounds for dismissal.
Password manager as the best option?
However, the convenience of using passwords poses major cybersecurity risks. Smaller companies seem to be particularly affected. This group is also the most likely to report that they change their passwords little or never. One popular option is a password manager to store and manage passwords for different logins. However, password management software can also be hacked if, for example, it is not sufficiently secured by multi-factor authentication.
Around 1008 employees from various US companies took part in the survey on password and security practices. The average age of the respondents was 37.9 years.
The Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) reveals the most important rules for creating strong passwords in this post
Source: Beyond Identity
