Passwords as a security measure are swiftly becoming obsolete as technology, and cybercrime advances. Weak passwords are too easy to hack, and strong passwords are too complicated to remember. Make sure you have a different password for every account but don't keep a record of any of those passwords. Isn't there a better way to keep your accounts secure? Luckily, there is!
No matter how many warnings people get about their passwords, they continue to make the same mistakes. They leave passwords on sticky notes visible to anyone who walks by their office. They reuse passwords over and over again across multiple different accounts. They use passwords that are too easy to guess like, admin, 12345, or even the word password! It would seem that passwords, in general, are the issue here. The only logical next step is to use a different form of authentication that is not only more convenient but also more secure.
Perhaps you've heard of or already use multi-factor authentication. That's great because it's the answer to all of your password woes. Multi-factor authentication involves two or more different security measures to access an account. That may sound more complicated than a username and password, but trust me, it's better, and more tech companies are moving towards making their devices password free and FIDO certified. That means you'll likely be moving toward multi-factor authentication whether you want to or not. Multi-factor authentication may involve any combination of the following:
Something you know - This would be, you guessed it, a password or PIN. Sorry, while mostly ineffective these things aren't completely going away. They still have some uses.
Something you have - This could be any device you and only you have access to that will authenticate your identity. Be it a smartphone, laptop, key, or something else that you physically own.
Something you are - These are becoming more common in newer devices. A fingerprint, vocal or facial recognition would fall under the category of what you are.
You can be confident that after implementing multi-factor authentication across your entire team, hackers will have an incredibly hard time getting around it. If you're interested in avoiding a data breach, this is one method I highly recommend putting into practice across all accounts company-wide.