Cybercriminals thrive on others’ uncertainty and ignorance. When you aren’t trained in cybersecurity best practices, hackers have a better chance of infiltrating your business’s systems. If you’re uneducated, hackers don’t have to bypass strong password security, watchful employees, or secure databases to reach their target; instead, they access can confidential data without much difficulty at all.

Unfortunately, uncertainty and ignorance has run rampant since the pandemic began. Many businesses were forced to switch to remote work but didn’t know how to adjust their cybersecurity policies to better fit the new changes.

If you’re considering implementing new cybersecurity changes, you’re already ahead of many business owners. We can’t give you a step-by-step guide in just one article on how to create a full cybersecurity plan, but we can show you where to start: by implementing a strong password security strategy.

The Importance of Password Security Management

Many businesses will invest in complex methods of security and data protection, such as multi factor authentication (MFA), virtual private networks (VPNs) and more. But sometimes, simple steps can make the biggest impact on your security. 

Passwords are essentially the key to your business’ data and documents, so you need to make sure that your employees are protecting them properly. Nowadays, businesses have so many different accounts, platforms, and apps that require password protection.

Chances are, at least a few of your employees have gotten a little sloppy. People often exchange convenience for security, and your staff is no exception. 

It’s important that you do your utmost to remind your employees of their responsibilities and the potential impact that poor password management can have on the business as a whole. To get them started off on the right foot, here are two powerful password security strategies that you should implement into your business.

Tip 1: Give Employees a Secure Way to Store Their Passwords

Most managed IT services and security experts say that the first step towards password security is giving your employees a secure way to store their passwords. 

Strong passwords can be difficult to remember and employees will actively seek ways to remember passwords that contain multiple cases, letters, numbers and special characters. If you don’t provide them with a secure way to store these passwords, they are likely to write them down in a notebook that can be left around or lost, or on a sticky note attached to their computer screens. This, of course, can be easily leaked. 

Instead, use the services of popular password management companies like LastPass. These companies will encrypt the password date and your employees will be able to use the software to sign into different programmes as and when they need throughout the day. 

These programs also allow employees to create separate folders for both personal and shared accounts. That way, they can manage their private passwords while accessing other passwords that your whole team uses.

Tip 2: Ensure Employees Separate Personal and Professional Password Security Habits

As we briefly mentioned above, employees have a lot of logins—and thus passwords—in both their personal and professional lives. Consequently, many use the same password repeatedly across both personal and professional accounts. 

Make sure they create brand new and unique passwords for professional accounts. To achieve this, you can implement software that requires a password change every three months. 

You should also request that they refrain from accessing business files through personal devices like laptops. This can make all the difference, especially in the world of remote work. 

You can protect your hardware all you like, but it won’t make any difference if your employees use their own devices for work. Many hackers bypass password security by accessing employees personal computers. Likewise, you should ensure that employees don’t use their business accounts on third party sites like Facebook or Amazon—especially if you’re worried that they use the same passwords for both personal and business accounts.

These, of course, are just two tips for stronger password security. But they can make all the difference. So, implement them into your business practice sooner rather than later, and you’ll be pleased by your results!