5 Tips on How to Improve Your Company’s Password Policy
By: Secure Stay
Tags: Cybersecurity, Secure Passwords, Hospitality, Hotels, Passwords

Cybersecurity is a major issue in the modern world. According to research, the alarming number of security breaches is still rising.

We all use technology on a daily basis, and staying safe should be a top priority. By protecting your data, you build trust with customers, prevent potential losses, and keep your business safe and sound.

Information gathered so far indicates that the majority of data breaches are coming from weak passwords or passwords that are not strong enough.

What can you do to make your password more resistant in order to defend your security from malpractice? The obvious solution is changing your password policy and making it the first line of defense. But that can be more tricky than it sounds.

Implementing a good password policy is more important than ever, as “information is the oxygen of the modern world.” As we said above, it can be tricky, especially after the challenges we faced with the COVID-19 pandemic and remote work.

The success of your password policy depends on the way you implement it and the overall engagement and participation of your team.

Below you can find 5 Secure Stay cybersecurity tips for implementing a password policy to prevent a breach.

More Verification Factors

One of the more effective methods for creating a secure cyber environment is user verification, which requires multiple authentication factors. More evidence about users is improving authentication mechanisms, and by doing that, you are decreasing the risk of a breach. The general rule is, the more information gathered, the better the defense.

Multi-factor authentication is usually a combination of your password with a code sent to your phone to verify your identity. It can be done in a combination of card and PIN as well. When you provide both, the authorization process is completed. Providing so much information can be annoying for the user, but the end goal is to stop security breaches, and eventually, users get used to it.

Multi-factor authentication is commonplace in many industries and services, and to this day, it is a necessity. Cybersecurity in the hospitality industry is no exception with its sensitive data.

Automatically Generated Strong Passwords

If necessary, the password manager can be one of the solutions. Dashlane and LastPass are options for creating unique passwords and notifying users if their password is not up to standards. A weak password is a hazard, and password managers collect a variety of strong and more secure options in an encrypted digital place. Only one “master password” is necessary to remember to take the rest from storage. Storage is accessible from any device.

One password to remember is much better than a lot of them. Cybersecurity for hotels can really benefit from using a password manager, considering many platforms they are using on a daily basis.

Length Requirement for a Strong Password

From the hacker’s point of view, passwords 12–15 characters long are more complex and difficult to crack. Length is not the only parameter for the password to be unbreachable; it also needs to be complex. The solution is passphrases. They provide length and complexity that become a real obstacle for any security interference, and they are also easy to remember. For the employees and the company itself, that is important for effective security. What they actually represent is a combination of words used as passwords. It can be a short sentence or a few random words, but the idea is the same — to create reliable and trustworthy passwords that resemble the standard one. In reality, it is actually much more than that.

Using Password Disallow Lists

Part of the password policy can be a password disallow list as well. This means protecting against frequent, weak, and easily crackable passwords, in other words, stereotypical passwords. You can protect your company by disallowing the use of those kinds of passwords. Numerous tools can be used to prevent leaks or weak passwords that can put company data in jeopardy. Passwords that are banned from usage are such as “companyname123” and others related to your business, which makes them easy to figure out. The same goes for passwords, including personal names, age, and similar easily accessible data.

This applies to every industry, and it’s especially a case in the hospitality industry, where your employees wear name tags. In order to improve hospitality cybersecurity, you should think about the common passwords that people can use and put them on the disallow list. This can include your hotel name, room number, and similar.

Passwordless Authentication

When thinking about cybersecurity, one thing to remember is that hackers don’t break in; they log in. Most attacks happen due to passwords being weak or stolen. An alternative for improved cybersecurity is eliminating passwords completely.

Passwordless authentication is the method of authentication through biometrics, security keys, and specially designed mobile applications. This authentication method prevents the use of insecure passwords and potential stealing of passwords through password-stealing malware or other cracking techniques.

Passwordless authentication can be easier for your employees, and it can streamline your new password policy implementation. If your company uses a lot of tools, online platforms, or multiple emails, your employees need to remember a lot of passwords. And, we all know how annoying forgetting a password can be. Your employees may write them down, which can also be tricky since they could be using unprotected software for keeping their confidential data.

By eliminating passwords, you solve multiple problems and potential unauthorized access to your data.

Conclusion

Cybersecurity is important for every business. Protecting your own data is as important as protecting those provided by your clients and customers. In any service industry, especially in the hospitality industry, your visitors should always be the centerpiece of the puzzle. Hospitality cybersecurity is important both for protecting your own data and your customers.

You should always be aware that there are those who want to take advantage of faulty cybersecurity. According to industry policies, millions of tourists trust hotels to store their personal information. By improving your hotel cybersecurity, you are thinking about safety first.