For any business securing sensitive information related to prices of products, internal confidential reports, copyrighted documents and even passwords is emphasized and addressed in the safest way. A leakage of any secured information often leads to breach of company policies. And any such violations will cost companies huge money and lawsuits. For example, a company has instilled in you the confidence that your passwords are safe and secure with them – passwords pertaining to the debit card you hold or credit card information perhaps. What happens if there is an unfortunate leakage of such sensitive information? This results not only in huge penalties, but also tampers the brand equity and customer beliefs in the company thereby largely affecting its growth potential.
Managing Your Password Is the Need of the Hour
The severity of the consequences in the unlikely situation of a password leakage makes it all the more important for organizations small or large to pour in investments in safeguarding the privacy of the data. Enterprise password management solutions come as a relief to many of us who have been tired of remembering an array of passwords for the different accounts we use, flipping through sticky notes or text messages. Some of you might have come across interfaces with a single sign on (SSO) page wherein all you need to do is to enter your password once and it helps you access a bunch of other applications. A master password is all that you need to remember.
Selecting Password Manager
Password managers are of several types – each with different capabilities. It is good for one deciding on a solution to know the various things you need to consider while planning on selecting a password manager for your enterprise.
Device Compatibility
Most of the password managers work effectively across different suites of devices, such as a PC, Mac, Android or iOS allowing for syncing facilities. Some password managers come with Google authenticator compatibility as well as biometrics. Some solutions may provide compatibility across a much broader range of devices, such as Kindle, Blackberry, and might come with extensions on IE, Chrome and other search engines. You need to understand the specific requirements and select one which fulfils requirements instead of paying a premium for services you might not be able to make use of.
Alert Tracking System
Almost all these solutions generate breach alerts indicating that it is now time to change your password before it expires. Often when it suspects multiple logins from same id on different systems, alerts are generated.
Pricing
Price is certainly one of the key determinants of the solution you finally purchase. Different companies have different pricing plans – some offer a free trial for a specific time period after which one needs to subscribe to continue services while others offer a flat rate irrespective of the number of users. There are solutions with differential pricing for number of user groups and other custom packages as well.
Know the security model
Security is an uncompromising factor. One should know how the secured data is stored on the cloud server and whether or not it has access to the master password. Some solutions use a zero-knowledge framework wherein passwords are stored in vaults in encrypted format and are decrypted locally at the instance of any user’s interaction with the system.
Choose the right password manager, deploy it in the right way and make your business safe and secured.
