World password day

Passwords in the current crisis are all important.

As Corey Nachreiner, CTO at WatchGuard Technologies (www.watchguard.com/uk) explains, “Intel started the first World Password Day in 2013, so it is somewhat surprising and depressing that we still need a special day to get the message across.  But the truth is that passwords still play a big part in our lives and with many millions of us currently working from home and hackers working overtime to take advantage of COVID-19, strong authentication is more important than ever.”

“In the office you can physically check on people but when everyone is remote, their digital login is all you have.  The chances are that home workers are repeatedly authenticating to many online and cloud-based corporate resources but from less secure and trusted networks, making the hacker’s job at sniffing out or stealing credentials a little easier,” continues Nachreiner.

“Maybe we need to replace Password Day with MFA Day.  Multi-Factor Authentication using passwords with some additional authentication factors such as biometrics, one-time codes, or mobile approvals, should be standard practice.  With SSO (Single Sign-on) you only have to log in once to access the applications you use.  So, no one can complain.  Let’s hope 2020 is the last year we need a Password Day.”