Marketing, Aerospace, and IT Pros Struggle with Passwords
What do marketing, aerospace and IT professionals have in common? At first glance, not much. But a closer look will show you that there is something that ties them together—passwords. Namely, the kinds they use and how they use them. Today, we’re focusing on the habits of professionals operating in marketing, aerospace, and IT.
Different Folks, Same Password Strokes
We are all human; but each of us is unique in our own ways. Different people gravitate toward different life and career choices. It’s how humans work. However, when it comes to passwords, we are not as unique as we would like to think.
Last year, NordPass conducted an in-depth analysis of Fortune 500 companies and found out that even the biggest businesses on the planet still struggle with password security. The research put together a list of the 10 most popular passwords in each industry, the percentile that are unique and the number of data breaches each industry had experienced.
The study found that professionals working in marketing, aerospace and IT shared a similar taste for weak and simple passwords. All three industries have a soft spot for “passwords”—it ranked either first or second on the list. Professionals in all three industries also quite liked “123456”, a classic among weak passwords. Another peculiar finding was that “aaron431” appeared in each industry’s list. Why people from industries that seem quite distinct from one another use virtually the same passwords is a question that’s impossible to answer. However, it’s clear that professionals in the marketing, aerospace and IT industry have to seriously brush up on their cybersecurity hygiene.
Weak Credentials Equal Weak Corporate Security
Passwords are organizations’ first line of defense. Back in April, a single compromised password took down the Colonial Pipeline—the largest fuel pipeline in the U.S.—which led to gas shortages and a huge uptick in prices. And in that instance, it was a rather strong one. Now, imagine how easy it would be for any bad actor to crack a password such as “123456”. Obvious, isn’t it?
In fact, 81% of hacking-related breaches used stolen and/or weak passwords. According to IBM, the average cost of a data breach amounts to $4.24 million for affected organizations. These are stark numbers, and they are closely related to the way people treat passwords. For any business wishing to thrive in today’s digital economy, it is essential to understand the importance of basic security and hygiene.
Tips for Better Security Hygiene
Today, hackers use a variety of sophisticated techniques to crack passwords in record time. To lower the risk of falling prey to bad actors and boost your business’s overall cybersecurity posture, the following steps are recommended:
- Educate employees on the importance of password hygiene. Make sure to adequately inform your employees about the company’s password policies (if such policies don’t exist, be sure to instate them immediately). Explain why reuse is a bad idea, why simple passwords are dangerous, and what cybersecurity experts consider “strong.”
- Create unique and complex login credentials. Easier said than done. A strong password should consist of 12 or more characters, include upper- and lower-case letters and numbers and special symbols. If this is a challenge, consider using a password generator, which will do all the work for you.
- Use a business password manager. This is the easiest and most convenient way to instill good hygiene within the company, which also improves overall cybersecurity posture. A corporate password manager empowers employees to securely store their credentials, credit card numbers and other sensitive information in a single place. A reputable solution will usually allow you to access login credentials across multiple devices, which is quite convenient. Furthermore, they are known to boost employees’ overall productivity. This is the byproduct of standard features like autofill and autosave.
The fact of the matter is simple: In today’s world, where everything happens online, a business password manager should be on the must-have list when it comes to corporate cybersecurity.
