7 Benefits of Using a Password Manager to Improve Security
In most businesses, the only thing standing between a hacker and their most sensitive data is an employee’s password. Use a password manager to Improve Security
Password security remains one of the most important areas of IT security because of how much damage can be done when a login credential is breached. Passwords protect everything from cloud account administrative settings to company email accounts.
And while most people understand how important passwords are, the instructions employees are given about password security can often conflict with the reality of what’s possible.
For example, employees are often instructed to create strong passwords with a combination of numbers, letter, and symbols. They also need to make sure they don’t reuse passwords – each one should be unique.
But the reality is that the average employee has to juggle 70-80 passwords for various applications, web accounts, and other types of logins. This makes it nearly impossible for them to follow good password practices if they are expected to remember all those passwords.
Statistics show that bad password habits are common. Including:
- 54% of users reuse the same password across multiple accounts
- 51% of employees share passwords with colleagues
- 42% of organizations rely on sticky notes to manage passwords
One way to ensure strong, unique passwords for all employee logins is to use a business password manager. A business password manager also helps employees to conquer this seemingly impossible task.
The Benefits of Using a Business Password Manager
Password managers are an application that acts as a password vault for an individual’s passwords. Business password managers allow a business to oversee any passwords used for busines logins and add or remove users from a master account.
A password manager encrypts passwords that are being stored, ensuring their security. The user only has to remember one strong, unique password to gain access to all the others.
Here are the benefits of using a password manager at your business.
Solves Weak & Reused Password Problems
Because employees are no longer required to remember tons of passwords, it’s easy to ensure that each password is unique and strong. And this keeps accounts more secure because passwords are much more difficult hack.
Suggests Strong Passwords
Password managers will suggest strong passwords for accounts that are strong and include a string of characters that aren’t going to spell out “password123” or one of the other common logins used.
Employees can set a new account password in a click because they don’t have to try to think one up to use.
Saves Time Wasted Resetting Passwords
A person spends as much as 11 hours per year resetting passwords. The forgotten password is common in offices throughout Tennessee, and it results in lost productivity and unnecessary interruptions.
When employees use a password manager, it greatly reduces that time wasted on password resets, because the application remembers all the passwords for them.
Easy to Use in Apps and Browsers
Password managers are easy for employees to use and will autofill passwords via a browser plugin.
Users can also open the password manager app and copy/paste a password into another application.
Makes Employee Offboarding Easier
When you’re going through employee offboarding, you must change all their logins so they can’t access company assets. A password manager allows you to easily revoke access for a user and it will trickle down to all their accounts. This takes much less time for securing those accounts prior to deletion.
Ensures a Company Isn’t Locked Out of an Important Application
It’s not unusual in small businesses for a key employee to be the only one that has a login to a particular application or website. For example, the marketing person may be the only one that can log into a company’s social media accounts.
If that person is out sick or leaves unexpectedly, a company can be locked out of their own accounts.
When you use a password manager, you have the ability to designate an administrator that can access employees’ passwords for company accounts as needed. This way you’re never locked out of an important resource.
Can Be Used to Secure Other Information
Password managers can be used to secure other information as well. This can include a company credit card.
Instead of having to give an employee credit card details on a piece of paper or through email, they are saved in a password manager. Now they can simply be auto-filled into a form, improving security.
Other types of information that you may want to store securely in a password manager includes:
- Website FTP details
- Corporate Tax ID
- Pay-per-click account ID information
Keep Your Company Accounts and Data Secure
Copperband Technologies can help your Middle Tennessee or Southern Kentucky business with password security, data security, and other important areas of IT protection.
Contact us today to schedule a consultation! Call 931.263.8000 or reach us online.
