04 Jan Password Managers and Multi-Factor Authentication: The Future of Company Security
Today, the average person has to remember a staggering 70-80 passwords. As well as being incredibly difficult to keep track of them all, this has also led to an unprecedented number of accounts being vulnerable to attack.
Thankfully, with helpful technologies such as password managers, forgetting your passwords could soon be a thing of the past. Not only that, but password generators and multi-factor authentication can provide critical additional layers of security, helping to keep your accounts safe. Keep reading for some of DH&Co IT Consultants’ top tips for making sure your data stays protected.
Make it secure from the start with a password generator
Even if you’ve steered clear of easy to guess passwords like names or birthdays, hackers today will still be able to decipher many of the simple passwords that users come up with. Using a random password from an online generator will make it much harder to crack.
Many password generators are free to use, such as Random. Services like Passwords Generator also provide tips on creating strong, random-worded passwords.
Use a password manager to keep track of it all
Trying to remember several random passwords can be tough – the average person spends 12 minutes each week entering and renewing forgotten passwords. A password manager can help with this.
They work by letting you, or your business, store all your passwords in the manager, and then creating a ‘master’ password that gives access to all the others. So whenever you sign in to a site, you just have to remember that one master password and the password manager does the rest for you.
Companies like Passportal offer a range of password management options, for example allowing you to maintain a full history of old and new passwords and to quickly update credentials across your entire client base, which is particularly helpful if someone leaves the company.
Add an additional layer of security with multi-factor authentication
Unfortunately, even with the help of better passwords and a means of tracking them, your account may still be vulnerable. As long as a password is all you need to get into an account, there is still a chance that your password could be guessed by software trying to steal your information.
However, you can add another layer of security with multi-factor authentication. It requires users to provide at least two ‘factors’ to verify themselves. So when you enter a password, a multi-factor authentication system will ask for an additional form of identification before letting you into your account. That way, even if a hacker had your password, without this second form of identification they would still be denied access to the account.
The second form of identification could be a simple text message with a code that needs entering at login, or something more sophisticated like fingerprint or face scanning via a mobile phone.
Whether it’s for personal use or an entire organisation, everyone should be opting for internet or cloud services that offer multi-factor authentication. You can also make use of services like Have I been Pwned to check if your email account has been part of a data breach, and whether your details may have been leaked online.
A complete password refurbishment might seem like an unnecessarily expensive and lengthy process, particularly for smaller businesses. However, it doesn’t need to be that way – DH&Co IT Consultants are offering a free 30 minute phone consultation to help you find a simple and cost-effective solution, all while ensuring your business’s data is kept safe.
If you’re looking to bolster your business’s password security, get in touch with the one of the team at 01573 225 082 or mail@dhcoit.co.uk to book your free consultation.