Businesses’ confidential information makes them a target to cyberattacks, with risk both internally from employees and externally from hackers. As cybercriminals typically steal data with everything from fraudulent emails to viruses, companies around the globe should go above and beyond to protect their data from harm’s way. However, it seems password procedures of UK businesses are cutting into work hours and failing to ensure security, according to new data by OneLogin.
The security service’s survey revealed resetting passwords in UK businesses consumes two and a half months annually. That being said, 78% of companies still fail to check how secure the password is and 66% don’t monitor employee passwords against common password lists.
The research also found that weak password requirements are creating insecure networks. 51% of company passwords don’t require special characters and 47% overlook use of numbers. Furthermore, 37% don’t incorporate upper and lower case letters and only 18.7% check passwords against rainbow tables, which is a programme used to crack passwords, leaving them even more exposed to hackers.
Commenting on the data, Thomas Pedersen, OneLogin’s CTO and founder, said: “The benefits of innovative technology to facilitate modern business practices is clearly yet to be recognised by the average UK business overwhelmed by day-to-day password management processes. Trust must be built between businesses and B2B tech vendors, as a lot of businesses are stubbornly struggling in the dark and avoiding the topic of ‘digital transformation’ to free up employee and operational efficiencies.”
It’s evident that UK businesses are jeopardising their security but, with a simple solution of upping their password security, the problem of time and danger can be eliminated, effectively killing two birds with one stone. With the practice of so-called poor “password hygiene” rife, SMEs better put on their rubbing gloves and get scrubbing. 
