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May Q&A: Available now
This month, the Making Sense team answers client questions related to trade policy developments and their impacts on key economic issues.
Passwords serve as gatekeepers to protect sensitive data for your business, safeguarding confidential information about you, your company and your employees.
But as hackers have become better at stealing valid passwords as a way to access and navigate private systems, securing these credentials has become a primary risk management priority for business owners today. Here's what you need to know about using passwords to keep company data safe.
Compromised passwords can lead to significant long-term losses for a business, ranging from monetary to reputational damage. Hackers often use phishing, social engineering and other tactics to access and then sell stolen passwords on the dark web. They also steal passwords to plan additional cyberattacks within a business or employ credential stuffing, where they use stolen credentials from one data breach to attempt to log in to unrelated services.
With all of these risks, many businesses today still remain behind in creating safe, strong passwords. According to Security.org's Password Manager Industry Report and Market Outlook for 2024, almost half of online account holders today rely on memory to keep track of their passwords, while 25% save them in unencrypted files on accessible devices.
This noted gap in password safety makes it essential to have a thorough cybersecurity plan for your business—one that includes best practices for password safety.
As part of your business's cybersecurity plan, regularly educate staff on the current best practices in password safety.
After creating or modifying unique passwords for each of your business accounts, don't write them down in a place where others can find them or allow web browsers to save them, especially on work-issued equipment.
You might also consider a companywide password manager, a strategy used by an estimated 1 out of every 3 Americans—or about 79 million people. A password manager creates randomly generated passwords for all of your accounts, which you then access using a single password. If you choose to use a business password manager, just remember to create a strong primary password.
You may also want to implement multifactor authentication as another layer of protection against phishing attacks. This method includes at least one extra step to access an account, whether it's through a push notification or biometric identification.
As part of your overall business strategy, it's also important that your IT teams employ password safety best practices and communicate them across the organization. This includes:
While no password practice is failproof, using as many of these strategies as possible makes it more difficult for someone to access your business accounts. Hackers are out there, and the best approach to take is a defensive one.
This material is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be an offer, specific investment strategy, recommendation or solicitation to purchase or sell any security or insurance product, and should not be construed as legal, tax or accounting advice. Please consult with your legal or tax advisor regarding the particular facts and circumstances of your situation prior to making any financial decision. While we believe that the information presented is from reliable sources, we do not represent, warrant or guarantee that it is accurate or complete.
Third parties mentioned are not affiliated with First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company.
Links to third-party websites may have a privacy policy different from First Citizens Bank and may provide less security than this website. First Citizens Bank and its affiliates are not responsible for the products, services and content on any third-party website.
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