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New survey shows how poor password hygiene is putting organizations at risk
New survey shows how poor password hygiene is putting organizations at risk
April 21, 2015
2 Min Read
PRESS RELEASE
BOULDER, Colo.—April 21, 2015— According to a national password survey commissioned by LogRhythm, Inc., the Security Intelligence Company, only 21 percent of those surveyed create unique passwords for each of their online accounts. This and other survey results released today indicate that employees may unknowingly place their organizations at greater risk for a potential security breach.
Other insight revealed in this Password Hygiene Survey (Infographic):
54 percent of respondents overlap their personal and work passwords
Consequence: If you are exposed at home or at work, you are exposed in both areas.
88 percent of respondents record their work passwords in an unsecure location
Consequence: No password is secret if stored where it can be easily accessed by bad actors.
79 percent of respondents are required to change their work passwords less than once a month
Consequence: This gives the criminals more time to find and exploit vulnerabilities.
“Cyber threats are growing in volume and sophistication, and company employees are often the weak link within company defenses,” said Chris Petersen, senior vice president of products, CTO and co-founder at LogRhythm. “Compromised user credentials continue to be a common vector through which cyber attackers penetrate the networks of their targets. User accounts and passwords are being harvested on the black market in support of active and future attacks. In many cases, an attacker must compromise credentials in support of their goals. It is imperative employers vigilantly monitor for behaviors of compromised credentials to avoid data breaches and other damaging cyber incidents.”
Along with these survey findings, LogRhythm offers password hygiene recommendations for employees to better protect their own personal data as well as their organization’s network. You can also find a series of educational blog posts on security awareness and best practices here.
Survey Methodology
LogRhythm conducted this survey by polling 520 full-time employees at organizations with 250 or more employees in various industries including healthcare, retail, manufacturing, utilities/energy, education, banking and automotive. For additional information or to receive the raw survey results, please contact [email protected].
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