News

NordPass Shines Light On Poor Password Hygiene

The word “password” is the second most commonly used password by people who are in charge of important organizations.

Published

4 weeks ago

June 5, 2022

nordpass shines the light on poor password hygiene

It’s often said that people are the weakest link in the cybersecurity chain, and the latest research from NordPass, a provider of the eponymous password manager, certainly confirms this.

NordPass examined over 290 million data breaches worldwide and discovered something alarming: high-ranking business executives and company owners frequently use passwords that are so laughably weak that using them is like begging to be breached.

Just take a look at the top ten most used passwords by CEOs:

Rank	Password	Count
1	123456	29,401
2	password	22,511
3	12345	11,867
4	123456789	10,988
5	qwerty	9,738
6	1234	6,520
7	qwerty123	6,446
8	1q2w3e	5,809
9	111111	5,487
10	12345678	5,099

As you can see, basic number and letter sequence combinations still dominate, and the fact that the word “password” is the second most commonly used password by people who are in charge of important organizations doesn’t really paint the current cybersecurity landscape in nice colors.

Besides these textbook examples of poor password security, high-ranking business executives and company owners are also fond of common names like “Tiffany” and “Charlie,” and they seem to like animals and mythical creatures, with “dragon” and “monkey” being the top animal- and creature-themed passwords.

Also Read: Is Your Phone Hacked? How To Find Out & Protect Yourself

“It is unbelievable how similar we all think, and this research simply confirms that,” says NordPass CEO Jonas Karklys. “Everyone from gamer teenagers to company owners are targets of cyber-crimes, and the only difference is that business entities, as a rule, pay a higher price for their unawareness,” he adds.

To better protect themselves, all employees should avoid password reuse at all costs, and a good password manager like NordPass can make this much easier. They should also turn on multi-factor authentication when possible for an added layer of security.

News

Cisco Unveils Strategic Vision For Enterprise Cloud Security In MENA

At the heart of this vision is Cisco Security Cloud, a global, cloud-delivered, integrated platform for end-to-end security across hybrid multi-cloud environments.

Published

1 week ago

June 24, 2022

David Morelo

cisco unveils strategic vision for enterprise cloud security in mena

The global pandemic has accelerated cloud adoption by forcing companies to embrace the hybrid work model. But as companies move more and more of their information technology systems to the cloud, they discover that traditional security measures become less and less effective. To help cloud adopters of all sizes overcome the challenges associated with enterprise cloud security, Cisco has unveiled its new strategic vision for the MENA region.

At the heart of this vision is Cisco Security Cloud, a global, cloud-delivered, integrated platform for end-to-end security across hybrid multi-cloud environments. The platform unifies the management and policy administration of public and private clouds to protect users, devices, networks, applications, and data.

“With the complexity of hybrid work, continued acceleration of cloud adoption, and the ever-advancing threat landscape, organizations are looking for a trusted partner to help them achieve security resilience,” said Jeetu Patel, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Security and Collaboration at Cisco. “We believe Cisco is uniquely positioned due to its scale, breadth of solutions and cloud-neutral business model to meet their needs.”

Cisco Security Cloud is based on the zero trust security model, which, as its name implies, describes an approach to security where no access request is trusted without verification regardless of where it comes from.

Also Read: Is Your Phone Hacked? How To Find Out & Protect Yourself

To make the verification process as robust and user-friendly and possible, the necessary identity checks take place in the background, allowing users to focus on their work without being constantly interrupted by log-in prompts and other identity verification mechanisms.

Cisco is also building session trust analysis using OpenID Foundation’s Shared Signals and Events standards, which allow cloud services to instantly communicate security alerts and status changes of users.

These and other parts of Cisco’s new strategic vision for enterprise cloud security should help companies accelerate their cloud adoption initiatives. According to a survey of IT professionals in the Middle East, a lack of cybersecurity is among the main reasons why such initiatives proceed at a slow pace.