Working Remotely? A Good Password Won’t Be Enough

What are the risks?

Password cracking.

Do you ever see those scenes in a movie where a phone or laptop is left unattended, and then a character who wants to access it figures out the password really quick? Writers may have conveniently created these characters with weak passwords to move the plot forward.

Unfortunately, there are actually people in real life who don’t use long and complex passwords because they are hard to remember. Not to mention they have to do this to several accounts. Some of these passwords even have to be updated regularly.

People with weak passwords are an easy target for security breaches because they allow cybercriminals to easily steal passwords without having to use sophisticated applications. If an intruder manages to crack just one password, he or she potentially gains access to every account on the device.

Password-sharing among colleagues.

SurveyMonkey surveyed 1,507 adults and found that 34% (one-third) of them said that they share their passwords with their coworkers.

42% of them expressed that the reason why they share their passwords is to collaborate with their teammates easily.

Additionally, some employees write down their passwords in anything within their reach at their work station. It could be in a notebook or a sticky note, with both posing a risk of getting stolen or copied from.

With various collaboration tools such as G Suite for Business, you can prevent this from happening within your company. In G Suite, your employees can simultaneously work on projects while communicating in real time.

You can contact an authorized G Suite reseller if you’re interested in getting an optimal deal.

Password usage of disgruntled ex-employees.

We have those uncomfortable times where we have to fire employees who aren’t performing up to our standards.

Even during difficult times like the COVID-19 crisis, some of us were forced to downsize to keep the businesses afloat.

Companies always ensure that their IDs and physical devices are surrendered, but some forget about disabling ex-employees’ work-related accounts. This poses potential dangers such as selling of information to competitors or even deleting files in your database.

How can I combat these risks?

Aside from encouraging users to create unique passwords, Google also recommends them to implement multi-factor authentication (MFA). Microsoft also suggests that 99% of cyber attacks can be blocked through MFA. 

You can’t get a better endorsement of MFA’s effectiveness than from these tech giants. 

MFA simply means having an extra layer of security besides your usual password, making it harder to breach. MFA is highly effective because identity tokens used during every authentication process are always guaranteed to be unique. 

This extra nudge can go a long way to protect your business from cybercriminals waiting for a password mishap.

Cybercriminals have become more desperate and have more time in their hands. Even the most complex passwords won’t be enough. Now is the time to boost the security of your business.

Duo Security, one of the leading cybersecurity providers, offers multi-factor authentication technology. ER Tech Pros is a certified seller of Duo’s MFA technology. We assess your servers and help you determine the best solution for your business.