Proactive Password Management For Your Small Business

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Proactive Password Management For Your Small Business

Read Time: 4 minutes Published: January 7, 2019

Are you sick of talking about password policies, password safety, and password management, yet? Starting a conversation about passwords can easily be met with heavy sighs and eye-rolls. However, it takes little effort, time, and money to keep everyone on the same page about your company’s password management policies and processes. Educate employees on password scams to watch out for, how to recover lost passwords, and what processes to follow in the event of a security breach.

When you don’t plan ahead, passwords can be a pain. But when do you do plan ahead, you can spring into action at any moment. Keeping a proactive attitude before trouble strikes will reduce future headaches, stress, and panic in the event an employee leaves or is suddenly terminated. Here are a few ways to stay proactive when it comes to password management.

Company-Issued Devices

Allowing employees to use their personal devices in the office has its benefits, but it can also make it more difficult to implement cohesive security solutions; employers no longer have the ability to clearly oversee everyone’s password access. And when someone’s device gets lost or stolen, you are only one password away from a security breach. Implementing a clear BYOD policy, one that includes a strong password section, is key when employees are on their own computers, tablets, and even mobile phones.

If your company is able, consider issuing company devices. With a limited budget, you could limit company-issued devices to employees with access to the sensitive data or higher-security accounts. Company issued devices are a helpful security measure because you have full control to wipe the device once it’s returned, lost or stolen. Beyond that, you (or Electric) can re-provision the device so new employees can start with a clean slate.

Create A Password Inventory

No, we do NOT mean keep all your passwords in a spreadsheet or word document (what kind of IT experts would we be?!). But we do mean take an inventory of all company accounts, resources, and devices that require password access. You could also do this as a reactive measure for password management per exiting employee, but keeping a running list of accounts may help reduce some stress before anyone leaves the company.

Keeping an account inventory will make it easier to pinpoint who has access to certain passwords, especially when an employee leaves or is terminated. An inventory of accounts can be sorted by department, security level, or any other way that will make it simpler to keep track of. Because we practice what we preach, when your team starts the onboarding process with Electric, we’ll ask you to list all of your password-protected accounts and installs so when offboarding requests come through, the process is seamless.

Use Password Management Tools

Passwords are pretty much the first line of security when it comes to…well, everything. And that’s a lot to keep track of! Creating an effective password policy and finding a reliable password management tool will help relieve the pressures that come with passwords. The right password management solution will help guide you when creating strong credentials for all your logins, implement SSO or multi factor authentication, and detect duplicate passwords. You’ll also be able to easily, yet securely, share passwords to new hires, automate password changes when an employee leaves, and configure other features that better suit the needs of your business.

We understand that not every business has the budget to hire someone to maintain and keep track of all your passwords. IT support, though, is essential when it comes to password management, especially when offboarding an employee. That’s where Electric comes in. Electric is a chat-based IT support system that can help you whenever you need, from resetting lost passwords to resetting company devices to updating compromised passwords or accounts right away. Schedule a demo today to see how we can turn the pains of password management into a boost of confidence for your cybersecurity.

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