Here are steps to improve cybersecurity for companies to reduce cybersecurity risks because it is essential to mandate specific measures for employees.
Join the DZone community and get the full member experience. It is likely that after working remotely for over a year, companies around the world will soon expect their employees to return to the office. Whether you are working from home or office, it is smart to consider a few cybersecurity best practices so that you and your employees do not become a target of a malicious actor. For companies to reduce cybersecurity risks, it is essential to mandate specific measures that their employees must take to mitigate risk as they return to the workplace. A strong password is the first key to ensure the safety of your accounts and data. However, most employees do not use complex passwords and often use a standard password across multiple accounts. Employees use weak passwords based on their preference to use simple passwords that are easy to recall. Unfortunately, this endeavor can be dangerous for the company. Companies need to ensure that their employees understand the reasons for using strong, complex passwords. Before establishing a strong password policy, first, educate your employees on why a policy is needed. The policy’s objective should be to develop a protocol for employees to establish complex passwords, the frequency of change for their passwords, and how best to protect them. Companies across the world are facing an increased risk of cyberattacks due to ineffective password management. Yes, there are many techniques available for data encryption and securing the network, but as long as employees use weak passwords, all of these techniques are of little use. By incorporating a Password Manager into your security stack, employees can establish and use complex passwords for their accounts, thereby increasing the company’s security. Additionally, a Password Manager will help ensure proper protection of their passwords and keep them secured in an encrypted state. Companies can further provide login security and password protection by deploying a Password Manager, which also delivers Multi-factor authentication as an additional security measure. Using a Password Manager can help prevent login credential theft and loss of passwords by malware such as Mimikatz. An incident at software firm Voova speaks to the need for the use of a Password Manager. On the way out, a fired IT worker stole a co-worker’s AWS login credentials and deleted over twenty AWS servers – out of spite, according to investigators, the use of Multi-factor authentication would have helped prevent the incident.
