World Password Day is coming up on May 4th. This is a day tech giant Intel established to create global awareness about the importance of stronger passwords. This day serves as an important reminder to take password security seriously.
According to Verizon, who studied 868 recent security breaches, the vast majority (four in five) of these cybersecurity events were linked to passwords in some way; they either involved brute force attacks or the use of stolen or lost credentials.
This vulnerability highlights the importance of using strong and unique passwords, and changing them frequently, as well as implementing additional security measures to help protect against ransomware and other types of cybercrime.
In relation to the importance of building robust passwords, Ian Leysen, CEO, CSO, and Co-Founder of Datadobi tells Digital Journal what the objectives of the event are: “World Password Day serves as an important reminder to individuals and businesses alike about the critical importance of password security in protecting sensitive data.“
He adds: “World Password Day is also a reminder that as the frequency of data breaches and cyber-attacks continue to rise, we cannot rely on passwords alone.”
Given the scale and significance of cyberattacks, Leysen says there is a need for a key business focus. With this he recommends: “From a business perspective, relying solely on passwords to protect critical data is an especially risky proposition. The next step must be to employ data governance policies that designate what constitutes critical data that must be protected.”
This is not straightforward, however. As Leysen observes: “Even with these policies in place, protecting data that you cannot find is impossible. Businesses need a technology solution that enables them to locate and organize all critical data, and then take appropriate action to secure it.”
As an example, Leysen draws upon: “This may involve creating an immutable copy, moving it to a more secure environment, creating a “golden copy,” and/or transferring the data to a storage solution that can be air-gapped for even greater protection from online threats. This tailored approach is much smarter than relying on broad security measures that may not be effective in all situations.”
In drawing the strands together, Leysen says: “To sum it up, combining strong passwords with data governance policies and a technology solution to enforce those policies is an unbeatable approach to data protection and security. In doing so, businesses can safeguard their sensitive information – especially from the growing threat of cyber-attacks, consequently enabling them to comply with regulations, as well as protect their intellectual property, reputation, and bottom line.”
