How passwords negatively impact productivity, security and IT support

How passwords negatively impact productivity,
security and IT support

  

21 February 2017 – Hypersocket Software, the network
security specialist, has released its latest report for businesses on how poor
password practices in the workplace can reduce employee productivity, threaten
security and increase the need for IT intervention.

Drawing on research
conducted in the UK, Hypersocket’s whitepaper highlights
the pain points created for both employees and enterprises from the use of
multiple passwords to access work-related apps and systems and how Sign-On
(SSO) technology can help solve these challenges.

The report highlights
that multiple passwords:

– Impact on user convenience and productivity
– 60% of employees
log in to between two and five different work apps and just over a quarter
(26%) log in to more than five different systems each with different passwords.
This means simply logging in each day can be a time consuming process. For
two-thirds it can take up to five minutes and for a frustrated 17% it takes
even longer.

– Increase the need for IT intervention – just 6% use a Password Manager to
store and organize their passwords and a quarter still have to contact an
IT helpdesk to reset them.

– Create a security risk – juggling numerous passwords means 40% of
employees use techniques to remember them that are not secure. Nearly one in
five people (19%) admitted to writing their passwords down. A further 21%
routinely use obvious, easy to guess passwords such as their children’s or
spouse’s names.

Lee Painter, CEO of
Hypersocket Software comments: “Tough access control requirements mean that, understandably,
most enterprise systems require a password to grant users access. Employees’
juggling multiple logins and the knock on effect on security, productivity and
the need for greater IT intervention is a problem for businesses regardless of
where they are based.”

He adds: “But it’s a
problem with a straightforward solution. Implementing Single Sign-On technology
can mean the difference between breach and security, inefficiency and
productivity. For employees one-click sign in is the difference between
inconvenience and accessibility, working harder or working smarter.”

The report sets out
three essential components of a Single Sign-On Solution. Password Manager
software to store, manage and populate passwords so that users can securely
access accounts with one-click login. A Self-service solution so that users can
reset passwords and unlock accounts without calling the IT helpdesk. Finally, a
SAML Server, a protocol that allows users to be authenticated and authorized
without the need to input additional credentials and which keeps password
authentication within an organizations own infrastructure.

Concludes Lee:
“Whatever the future with trends such as biometric passwords, it’s probable
that the traditional password will remain a key security layer for the
foreseeable future and so continue to create pain points for employees. Poor
password practices and weak management of identities will continue to make
enterprises vulnerable and create a route for hackers and malicious insiders to
breach systems.”

For more insight into
the challenges that arise for employees and enterprises from the use of
multiple passwords and the benefits of Single Sign-On technology, download
Hypersocket’s whitepaper: Work smarter, not harder:
solving password problems with Single Sign-On.