The Danger of Sharing Passwords, and a Safe Solution
How much thought do you put into the passwords that you use?
The advice from the experts is to always use complex passwords to secure your accounts.
What’s a complex password?
A complex password is one that uses a combination of numbers, symbols, and upper and lower case letters, and is longer than eight characters.
How long would it take a hacker to break your current password?
Of course it varies. A simple standard 7-character password without symbols or uppercase letters can take as little as 0.29s to crack.
Suffice to say, the longer it is, the more complex it is, the longer it will take to crack it.
I can’t remember my passwords
An impact in the rise of technology and remote-working as a result of the pandemic, there’s been an increase in the number of passwords we must remember for all the systems, apps, and tools we’re using to stay connected and productive.
For most people, keeping track of the plethora of passwords is a struggle.
According to a study by Google, when it comes to password maintenance, 75% of Americans are still struggling to keep track of their passwords.
With such an overwhelming number of passwords to remember, it’s hardly surprising that this leads to poor password hygiene when there’s no technology in place to help.
For this reason, 66% of people use the same password for more than one online account.
How does password sharing impact an assistant?
Some applications have delegate or proxy features tailored to meet the demands of personal, executive, and remote assistants, however not all give the full functionality or charge by licence. - Another expense many small businesses and solopreneurs simply cant afford.
These pain points aren’t dependent on the size of the business. Both small or large businesses face their own set of challenges to contend with.
Small businesses struggle with the most passwords, while employees at larger companies have notably less passwords to worry about usually due to single sign-on features.
There are occasions, where it’s easier for an Executive to simply share their password with their assistant.
While this might be the easiest option, the risk for employees is significant. Larger companies are more likely to have Data Protection policies and procedures, resources, and regulations for such behaviour.
A safer way to the executive, and the assistant, is to use a tool specifically designed for managing passwords. Companies like LastPass, NordPass, 1Password, can help avoid the problem of forgetting and the risks of sharing passwords. They can even go as far as randomly generate strong passwords based on the requirements you set, and store them securely.
So what’s the solution?
At willow. we use NordPass.
Why?
After roadtesting several password managers, it was a foregone conclusion to this team that the NordPass is the clear winner for versatility and ease of use.
If you want to try before you buy, use our referral code: J#Q2IU for one month of NordPass Premium.
