In today’s business world, password theft, ransomware, and phishing cases are on the rise, requiring cybersecurity measures. You need applications to manage, store, and protect your company passwords and data from hackers.
A password manager is one of the most effective security tools to protect your organization, employees, and customers from intruders. Here is a detailed analysis of how password managers work if they are secure, and cases where they have been breached.
LastPass Breach
Password managers aim to protect customer data, but some companies have experienced regular breaches. In 2022, one of the most commonly used password managers, LastPass, was hacked, and unencrypted customer metadata fell into the wrong hands. In August 2022, the company announced it experienced a breach and no user data had been accessed. Later in December 2022, it was revealed the breach had exposed password vaults and user data to unauthorized personnel.
LastPass has experienced previous data breaches that compromised customer data. In 2015, it encountered an attack that exposed customers’ security information and email addresses. The same happened in 2017 when OneLogin got attacked, leaking customer data.
Cybersecurity issues are inevitable, and the aim of password management companies is not to have a 100% track record. Their goal is to protect customers and react to any disasters immediately as they happen. This helps to put fast measures in place to ensure the hackers cannot use any of the stolen data. LastPass failed at this by communicating about the 2022 breach too late.
What Is a Password Manager?
A password manager or password vault represents a software application that organizes and stores your company’s usernames and passwords. Password managers help you generate complex and unique passwords to protect your firm’s accounts. Here are more services offered by a password manager security:
- Industry-standard encryption
- Encrypted file storage vaults
- Multi-factor authentication and two-factor authentication
- Site and password breach alerts
- Password rotation
Different password managers have varying ways of operating, in that some are cloud-based, and others use local storage. They are also built into different web browsers, such as Firefox, Chrome, Edge, and Safari.
What Are the Risks of Using a Password Manager? / Can Password Managers be Trusted?
If you’ve been wondering, “how safe are password managers?” — they are safe. A password manager is tough to compromise and thus can be trusted to store your passwords. However, you should be aware of the risks of using password managers. Here are some risks:
All your sensitive data is in one place
Having a password manager involves placing all your sensitive data in a single place. This could include your secure notes, credit cards, and private customer data. If your company experiences a breach, changing your passwords and blocking payment options could take time, allowing the attacker to do some damage.
Your devices are not secure enough
Your password managers can get hacked if you use a device infected with malware. When you type your master password, the malware records it, giving hackers full access to your stored data. You should invest in a trustworthy antivirus and endpoint manager to protect all your devices.
Failing to use biometric authentication
Not including biometric authentication places your business at risk of a cyber-attack. Biometric authentication adds an extra level of security to your company data.
Configuring your password manager to request a face scan or fingerprint lowers the chances of your vaults getting hacked. It is also easy to use your fingerprint over adding a master password.
Forgetting your master password
Forgetting your password could make it very challenging to recover your password vault. You should store your master password or hint in a physically secure place, for example, a safe.
Benefits of Having a Password Manager for Your Business
Having a password manager is one of the best strategies to promote your business’s cyber security. Here are some of the benefits of using password managers:
Allow secure password sharing
Password managers allow you to create password lists so that employees can safely share passwords within their departments. Password lists can be created for a project team, department, or any group in your business.
Help you implement password policies
Consolidating your passwords in one management platform allows your firm to standardize and ensure strict password security policies. You can create policies such as minimum password length and require the use of multiple-factor authentication on all your credentials.
With a password manager, your IT administrators can follow up to ensure all employees adhere to your company’s password policies.
Promote dark web monitoring
Cybercriminals target your company to steal customers’ credentials. It can take months to detect a breach, and clients may only notice it when it’s too late. Password managers allow you to scan dark web password leaks and identify if any of your company credentials are available on these sites.
Password managers notify you in real time whenever your employees’ or customers’ credentials appear on the dark web. This allows you to enforce a password reset, protecting your business, employees, and customers.
Password Security Tips
Once you have a password manager, you need strict password manager security interventions. Follow a few practices to make sure your security is maximized. Here are some password security tips you can implement:
Educate your employees on the benefits of a password manager
Take time to educate your employees on the value of having a password manager and the risks of not using it. Utilizing a password manager may seem like too much work for some of your employees, who may choose not to use it. This places your company at risk of cyber threats that may result in data loss.
When employees utilize your company’s password management policies, there is less of a need to remember and reset passwords. This reduces vulnerability to cybercrimes and protects your organization from hackers.
Introduce password health scoring
Come up with a culture of monitoring your company’s password health scores. Tracking this promotes a culture of cybersecurity and helps your employees set strong passwords. It also educates them to recognize reused passwords and practices that weaken your security systems. This makes your workers feel more engaged and ensures they learn from their mistakes.
Supplement your business security profile
Having a password manager is only part of attaining cyber security. You need to put in place other measures to protect your business data from being accessed by hackers. Anti-malware software, along with VPN and dark-web monitoring software, comes in handy. They add more protection and depth to your security profile, helping to prevent attacks.
Set Up a Password Manager From a Reputable Organization
As your business expands, your team becomes more complex and susceptible to cyber threats. You need a password manager as part of your cyber security strategies. This safeguards your company information and brand reputation while enhancing employee productivity.
At Softlanding, we provide cloud, Azure, and managed IT services and consulting to improve your cyber security posture. Our professionals help you prevent intruders from accessing private data in your systems. Contact us today to ask how we can help.
Written By:
softlanding
Softlanding is a long-established IT services provider of transformation, professional services and managed IT services that helps organizations boost innovation and drive business value. We are a multi-award-winning Microsoft Gold Partner with 13 Gold Competencies and we use our experience and expertise to be a trusted advisor to our clients. Headquartered in Vancouver, BC, we have staff and offices in Toronto, Montreal and Calgary to serve clients across Canada.
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