Password best practices are your best bet towards your safest data.
What enterprise password management best practices should your business be following?
Data is more valuable of an asset than ever before. Protecting your data and securing your information is the top priority of any IT team. Some of the best – and simplest – methods of securing the safety of your data is learning and implementing enterprise password management bets practices across your organizations. Here are some of the most important password handling best practices to know now.
Access
It starts with access. A good password protocol is to have limited access to the master password control. This person also helps set up password access for other users – they can offer access to network areas or software that require a login and password. This helps limit data access, therefore limiting the amount of a breach or accidental data loss. Additionally, a password administrator can help users at all levels with password resets and training in personal password management best practices, helping users understand what makes a good, strong, safe password.
Assessment
Related to having a password administrator and training on password use is regularly reviewing and auditing password access and techniques. A password audit allows an admin to check that user passwords meet the password regulations in place, such as recommended complexity, and that all users have the right level of access deemed appropriate. Plus, regular audits help to keep security a priority and allow IT to update and change their password best practices policy as necessary.
Regular Reminders
Another password safety best practice is regularly changing passwords. Many operating systems and password management systems have built-in reminders that will alert users to change their passwords at regularly intervals. If your password system doesn’t have an automated reminder feature, you may need to ask users to set reminders on their calendars or send out emails reminding users to manually change their passwords. Having an automated system, however, can check against users reusing recent passwords – avoiding reusing passwords can help keep data safer.
Strong Sharing Policies
When it comes to password sharing best practices, the best idea is to not share. Instruct users to never send requested sensitive information, like passwords, through email as that could be a phishing scam. Also, encourage users to not share passwords between themselves, even if they’re in the same department. IT can set up shared networks or cloud storage access if users need to see or edit each other’s data.
Password Management Programs
The best way to safely store passwords and keep up with and automate best practices, such as reminders and complexity and length requirements, is to invest in a password management system that keeps all login information accessible to users. This means that no matter where they need a password, there’s no risk of ever repeating the same password for multiple accounts or forgetting multiple passwords.
Password management systems such as LastPass, Dashlane, 1Password, and other password management software allow users to store their passwords for all their accounts – no more manually typing in passwords. With encryption and only one master password a user needs to remember, data is safe and easily accessed from desktops, mobile devices, and more.
Does your business have an enterprise password management best practices list to keep data more secure? What would you add to this list of password best practices?
