The significant majority (92%) of IT professionals use the same password across multiple sites, and over half share passwords with colleagues over email.
That's according to the findings of a survey carried out by password manager firm Bitwarden, which polled over 400 US IT decision-makers across a wide range of industries on their workplace password practices and perceptions about password security.
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The research found that 53% of IT professionals share passwords with colleagues over email, while 41% share via chat and 31% during in-person conversations. More than half of respondents (53%) use computer methods to remember passwords and nearly one in three (29%) rely on pen and paper.
Bitwarden CEO Michael Crandell said that “everyone knows sharing passwords via email isn’t a great idea, and yet it’s still happening."
He added: “Ultimately, the C-Suite should prioritize finding better ways to do business faster and safely. It will set a positive tone and alleviate some of the security anxieties that are so clearly present."
The survey attributed the increasing amount of password sharing to a sudden adjustment to remote work and an increased rate of employee turnover.
More than half (54%) of IT decision-makers surveyed admitted their organization has experienced a cyber attack. Two-thirds of organizations have a ransomware mitigation strategy in place, while 25% do not have one or are not sure.
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Almost two-thirds (61%) of respondents are “more concerned” about cyber security this year and attribute this heightened worry to the fear that employees working remotely may be lax about their overall security hygiene.
The report also found that nearly half of respondents (48%) are working more hours than last year, with respondents citing turnover and difficulty hiring as the primary culprits.
Both employees and IT decision-makers still resort to using shadow IT, with 30% of respondents admitted that they find themselves resorting to shadow IT as a workaround. When asked why, 63% believed it made daily activities faster and more efficient, while 48% said they used shadow IT because they lacked authorization for certain applications or software. Almost 40% of respondents said using shadow IT was down to slow response times from IT.
