AUSTIN, Texas--Passwords remain central to cybersecurity, but only about half of all employees at companies believe their password usage habits in the workplace are secure.
Moreover, fewer than one-in-five employees say they are required to use more sophisticated security tools, according to findings in a new survey released by Software Advice.
Among the key findings of the survey of American workers:
- Only 56% of employees surveyed are confident that their password usage habits in the workplace are secure.
- Password reuse is less endemic in the workplace than among consumers, with only 31% of employees admitting to this versus 69% of consumers.
- Many employees are not required to follow basic best practices at work: Only 54% say creating complex passwords is mandatory.
- A mere 17% of employees in the sample report are using multi-factor authentication to enhance their password security at work.
- Only 14% of employees report using any form of biometric authentication (e.g., fingerprint scans) in the workplace.
The risk from passwords being compromised is due in large part to how technology has intersected with the people’s lives, with a recent survey finding the average American has 19 passwords to remember, noted SoftwareAdvice.
“It’s no surprise, then, that users often succumb to password fatigue and commit such security sins as using passwords based on names or words culled from a dictionary, reusing passwords or writing them down on pieces of paper that are left lying around the office,” Software Advice said. “
Other Findings
To gauge the extent of the problem and how it affects businesses, as well as to find out what steps businesses are taking to ameliorate the issue, Software Advice said its survey of U.S. employees on their use of passwords at work also found:
- 44% of employees are not confident their passwords are secure.
- 29% of respondents say their password usage habits are “extremely secure,” while 27% opt for “very secure.”
- 34% of respondents hedge their bets, choosing only “moderately secure.”
“The rules for strong passwords are hardly secret, and are constantly reiterated at work and in the news, at least eight characters, plus a mix of upper and lowercase letters, symbols and numbers,” noted SoftwareAdvice. “Our findings suggest that users either remain unaware of the rules despite the hype, do not believe them to be good advice or simply find them too burdensome, and thus opt for less secure passwords.”
Only 3% of respondents knowingly use minimally secure passwords, with just 2% freely admitting that the passwords they use are outright “not secure.”
What Businesses Require
- 54% of businesses require complex passwords.
- 51% of respondents are required to change their passwords regularly, while a mere 41% say they are locked out of their computer after too many failed attempts at entry.
- Only 39% are forbidden from reusing passwords, while for 29%, using the default passwords that come with a system is forbidden. Very few businesses require the use of passphrases.
- Only 17% of businesses use multi-factor authentication.
