IT professionals have long known the weaknesses of passwords. For years, the security community has lamented how easy passwords are to steal and how difficult they are to secure, not to mention the failure of employees to be responsible with the passwords they use every day.
Perfect is standing in the way of better password security
While everyone continues to call for the death of the password, can IT professionals say they are currently doing enough to address today's reality of password security? In many ways, the idea of a perfect, universal answer to password security is preventing businesses from going back to basics to build a strong foundation of security right now. In a new paper titled "Solving the 'Password Problem' for Better Security," IDC research director Frank Dickson explains that when it comes to cyber security in the workplace, the biggest 'bang for the buck' comes from doing the basics well. Given that over 80% of data breaches stem from stolen or weak passwords, improving password security is a logical place to start.Strict password rotation policies aren't the answer
IT organizations have long relied on strict password rotation policies to force users into better compliance with cyber security best practices. The result? Employees find ways to circumvent the onerous requirements and undermine the very security IT organizations are trying to build. They'll create easily-guessed patterns, write their passwords down, or re-use the password across many of their accounts. With new recommendations from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) that businesses should forgo password rotation policies and instead seek out solutions like password managers, IT professionals now have the backing they need to change password practices and address the gaps in their organizations.Read the complimentary Q&A paper
Fixing the password problem isn't all about security – it also impacts employee productivity, and even the workload of an already-overloaded IT team. Given the efficiency and security gains businesses experience when passwords are automated, improving password-related processes and strengthening password security is a worthy investment. Read the complimentary IDC paper where Dickson explores more around these topics, including:- The importance of password security
- Building a strong security foundation through doing the basics well
- The problems Enterprise Password Management solutions can help solve
- Productivity and efficiency benefits of solving the password problem
