It’s Time to Manage Your Passwords
Are you using a password manager to secure your countless logins across the internet? If you answered "No", or your password manager is a spiral note book labeled “PASSWORDS” in the top drawer of your desk, it’s time for a change. It's time to get rid of those sticky notes on your monitor or "hidden" under your keyboard, and make sure your information is actually secure.
According to the folks at Meldium (a password management tool), 90% of employee passwords can be hacked within six hours, and 65% of people use the same password across multiple accounts. If this sounds like you, chances are you need to improve your password management.
As a private investigator, the data that you gather is extremely sensitive and sought after. If you collect Personally Identifiable Information (PII) or Protected Health Information (PHI) about an individual, this information goes for a premium on the Black Market. Make a list of the services you use to store and communicate this data (e.g. email providers, case management tools, database services, etc...). How do you manage your account credentials for these services?
Can’t Remember Your Password? Good!
If your password is memorable, it has a higher chance of being hacked. With hundreds of potential logins, the tendency for password repetition is generally high. However, if one of your accounts is compromised, and you're using the same credentials on multiple sites, then effectively all of your accounts are compromised.
When using a password manager, you don’t have to remember your passwords because they can be randomly generated. This ensures that each password is unique and satisfies the password requirements of your most sensitive data. While you might be able to create interesting and challenging passwords, a password manager will spit out a string of characters that is exponentially tougher to crack!
Being Proactive Can Save you $
If you handle sensitive case data, there is comes an inherent responsibility to protect that information to the best of your ability. While using a password manager may seem cumbersome at first, it can actually speed up your login process, while keeping your accounts safer at the same time. The amount of time and money you spend to secure your online accounts is nominal when compared to the costs associated with an avoidable data breach.
A breach in data that could have been prevented with proper procedures can cost companies tens of thousands of dollars. The Ponemon Institute and IBM collaborated to report that the average cost of each compromised record with sensitive information is around $174. You can assess your own risk with this useful data breach calculator.
Take a Step Towards the Right Protection
If you’re interested in using a password manager, there are a lot of options to choose from. According to InfoWorld, here are some great choices:
Using a password manager isn't a guaranteed fail-safe, but mitigating your risk is essential to making sure your data is as secure as possible. We want you to be safe, secure, and successful!