For instance, one current scam involves pointing people to an online map that purports to track COVID-19 cases but actually steals usernames, passwords, and credit card numbers stored in a user’s browser. Throw in a pandemic, and that adds another avenue for hackers. Consider these “pajama passwords.” Lazy and easy to hack, and they can put a network’s security in jeopardy. Just like someone is more likely to wear pajamas to work when they are staying at home, they are more likely to be seduced by the familiarity of home to choose unimaginative passwords like 12345 and password. With legions of employees working from home, passwords have gotten more casual along with workplace dress. But even if they don’t deploy new authentication technologies right away, Brooks told Dark Reading, businesspeople recognize that something has to change. Brad Brooks, CEO of OneLogin, told Dark Reading that the COVID-19 work-from-home experience would move many companies forward. In fact, Forbes trumpeted the possible pandemic demise of passwords in a recent article entitled Could Coronavirus Finally Kill Passwords?ĭark Reading also tackled the topic recently.

Passwords are one example of this, and some have speculated that the COVID-19 crisis might finally be the impetus that pushes them aside. The current pandemic is impacting all areas of IT, and that includes some of the tried and true tools of security. For MSPs, this means another front in the war on hackers.Ĭlick To Tweet Passwords reaching their end? The global survey that polled 3,250 individuals across the United States, Australia, Singapore, Germany, Brazil, and the United Kingdom provides evidence that increased knowledge of security best practices doesn’t necessarily translate into better password management. With people spending more time online, the evolution of cybersecurity threats and the unchanged behavior in creating and managing passwords creates a new level of concern around online security, LastPass reports. Even with all the publicity about compromised passwords, LastPass reported that 91 percent of people know that using the same password on multiple accounts is a security risk, yet 66 percent continue to use the same password anyway. Password security firm LastPass released findings this month from its third “psychology of passwords” global report that show some sloppy password habits from people who should know better. MSPs can only hope that is the case because client employees that choose to use weak passwords can put the whole enterprise at risk. World Password Day was celebrated earlier this month with some sobering statistics that may have people rethinking the use of their daughter’s middle name or favorite Italian dish as the basis for all of their security.

Msp accounts and passwords 2017