A shift has taken place in network security– according to the Identity Theft Resource Center and the annual Verizon Data Breach report, for the past two years in a row, attacks using compromised credentials (also known as previously compromised data) has surpassed phishing as the most used attack vector. 

Users prefer passwords that they can type quickly and remember easily (confirmed by the fact the passwords 12345678 and “password” have been topping the worst-password lists from 2011 through 2025).  

Many users assume attackers only target large companies and reuse passwords across multiple accounts because familiarity feels much safer than randomness and it is just easier.  Unfortunately, AI and LLMs have provided attackers with the ability to automate gathering and correlating huge amounts of usernames and passwords from previous breaches to access accounts. So, when a password is reused, all accounts using that password or even a portion of that password are in jeopardy.  

Creating a strong, unique password for every account and remembering them is close to impossible for most humans, which causes people to store them insecurely – like writing passwords down, or even worse – storing them within their internet browser.  Browsers are prone to vulnerabilities, exploits and are not truly secure.  Allowing users to store passwords within their browser can have other implications as well – when an employee saves passwords, credit card numbers and other information stored in the browser, if the employee leaves or is terminated, that information goes with them.

So how can you help your employees avoid password pitfalls, keep your network and data secure and confidently complete your next cyber insurance questionnaire?  A password manager.  

Password managers can do more than just reduce the risk of security incidents by making it easy for your users to generate and store strong passwords for every account, they can also:

·        Increase productivity by filling in usernames, passwords and other information across forms, websites and applications

·        Help prevent users from entering credentials on spoofed or malicious sites - auto fill only works on verified, legitimate websites

·        Prevent keylogging – with auto fill the information is not typed in manually so keystrokes cannot be captured

·        Warn users if passwords are weak or reused and notify them when a password has been compromised (dark web breach monitoring)

·        Allow employees to share passwords securely

·        Implement role-based access control to support least privileged access

·        The ability to access the platform on any device with a desktop app, web vault and browser extension

·        Provide security audits, event logs, notifications and compliance reporting

·        Support for passkey storage and multi-factor authentication
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Pivotal IT is proud to announce our partnership with Keeper Password Manager. Recognized in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Privileged Access Management and recently approved to be used in Government environments, the Keeper Business plan provides an encrypted vault on unlimited devices and free family plan for each user.  Contact us today to get started!

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