Secrets like passwords and ssh keys are scattered throughout the software development process. However, few people can access this data. Controlled access is still a major challenge for development teams, due to difficulties in managing this information and adopting non-recommended standards.

The standards that can compromise the security of a system include weak passwords, a topic already addressed here in senhasegura‘s blog.

However, in this article, we will bring more details about the management of secrets in development processes. To facilitate your understanding, we divided our text into the following topics:

1. What Are Secrets?
2. Challenges to Manage Secrets in Development Projects
3. Password Management: Non-Recommended Standards
4. Five Key Practices for Secret Management
5. Conclusion

Follow our text to the end!

• What Are Secrets?

All authentication credentials used in applications and services in an IT structure are considered secrets. This includes passwords, ssh keys, API keys, OAuth tokens, and configuration files.

Secrets management can be viewed as enhanced password management, which includes creating, rotating, revoking, and storing credentials.

After all, the scope in this case is broader, but the purpose remains to protect against unauthorized access to data and systems, data losses, and breaches.

Secrets management contributes to cybersecurity in three instances. They are as follows:

• Infrastructure Security – It prevents users, devices, applications, and other network elements from being invaded;
• Cloud Service Security – It allows you to limit and manage access to cloud-based services;
• Data Security – It makes it possible to protect critical systems, among other resources against data losses and breaches.

Another advantage of secrets management is to help bring organizations into compliance with the requirements of demanding cybersecurity standards, such as FIPS, NIST, and HIPAA.

• Challenges to Manage Secrets in Development Projects

Secrets management involves some difficulties. Next, let’s point out the most common ones. Check it out:

 Lack of Visibility

With the migration of IT infrastructure to the cloud, the number of resources, systems, applications, and accounts changes frequently. As a consequence, the places where secrets are stored also change. 

Therefore, for an organization to remain secure, it is essential to know clearly where this information is stored. What’s more: A lack of visibility can also create obstacles to managing these resources, or when going through an audit.

 Lack of Management Policies 

To meet the criteria of security regulations and facilitate the control of the life cycle phases of a secret, companies must define rules in security policies, which does not always occur. 

 Manual Management

Most organizations do not use automated secret management capabilities to manage their digital credentials yet. In this way, they delay the management process and make the storage of secrets more vulnerable.

• Password Management: Non-Recommended Standards

Many organizations still have non-recommended standards in their password management routine. Here are a few:

 Weak Passwords

Due to the difficulty in memorizing complex passwords, many people adopt simple and easy-to-remember codes. However, this is one of the main vulnerabilities when it comes to password management. After all, easy-to-remember passwords are just as easy to crack.

Also, malicious agents can discover embedded and encoded passwords with the help of verification tools, by performing a brute force attack or simply guessing.

 Password Sharing

Many companies use shared accounts and passwords to manage their systems, making it impossible to identify who performed each action within an online environment in the event of an incident.

In addition, their employees can share passwords with co-workers or others, facilitating the action of attackers interested in sensitive organization data. 

 Storing Secrets in Plain Text

It is common for employees in a company’s department to use text files that contain all passwords for critical situations or forward messages to colleagues with the necessary secrets to access a resource.

Nevertheless, these practices pose risks to the cybersecurity of organizations: attackers only need to obtain a file, message, or email to have tools to hack a system. 

 Reuse of Secrets 

It is also very common to reuse secrets for different services in order to facilitate their memorization and save time. However, if one malicious user discovers one code, the others will also be compromised.

 Unrevoked Secrets 

NIST has as a criterion the revocation of user credentials when necessary. This should occur in the event an employee is fired or a contract with a third-party supplier is terminated, for example. However, this security procedure is not followed by all organizations.

 Secrets Without Rotation

Various security standards dictate that passwords be changed within a given time frame, as do application keys and other types of secrets. Once again, it is not all companies that follow this recommendation. 

Five Key Practices for Secret Management

There are several ways to provide a secure method for protecting secrets. The following are five important steps to achieve this goal:

 Centralized Secrets Management

First, you should centralize your secrets in one place to ensure more security and facilitate their management. This makes it easier to build governance, security, and auditing to know who accesses this information and when it is accessed. 

 ACLs (Access Control Lists)

Once you have your secrets centralized in one place, make sure the right people have access to them. To do this, you can create human, machine, and application ACLs that give you control of that access. 

 Temporary Credentials

The third and fourth actions must occur simultaneously: they consist of having dynamic secrets. In practice, to ensure dynamic secrets, individuals and entities must be given temporary credentials to access the systems. 

Encryption

As mentioned, it is important that data in transit or at rest can be encrypted, with encryption keys centralized in secrets management.

 Audit

Now, you might be wondering how to audit your secrets management and know what was accessed by which user. 

Each dynamic secret can be used by a single user, who is properly authenticated when retrieving this information, and encryption as a service allows you to know who accessed an encryption and decryption operation. All of this can give you a complete picture of everything that happens in your IT infrastructure.

Conclusion

• By reading this article you have learned what secrets are, how they should be managed, and what are the biggest challenges in managing this information. You were also able to understand which standards are not recommended in password management, such as:

• Weak Passwords;
• Password Sharing;
• Storing Secrets in Plain Text;
• Reuse of Secrets;
• Unrevoked Secrets; and
• Secrets Without Rotation.

In addition, we presented five fundamental practices for good secrets management. 

Did you like our text? Share it with someone interested in this information. 

Currently, most companies rely on their Information Technology department and IT service management (ITSM) to meet the demands of users and become increasingly competitive.

But what is this strategy about after all? In practice, the term IT Service Management (ITSM) refers to the processes and resources used by IT teams to deliver IT services in an agile and effective manner, positively impacting a company’s performance. 

Beyond the delivery of services and support, this set of practices prioritizes the needs of users and the services provided, seeking continuous improvement rather than taking only IT systems into account.

In this post, we bring you a complete guide, with everything you need to know about IT Service Management (ITSM) through the following information:

• What Is IT Service Management (ITSM)?

• Benefits and Importance of IT Service Management (ITSM)

• Key IT Service Management (ITSM) Processes

• ITSM, ITIL, DevOps: Understand These Abbreviations

• What Is the Difference Between ITSM And ITIL?

1. Services Related to ITSM

• Agile Service Management

1. Workforce Training: Understand this Approach
2. ITSM Resources 

Read it until the end!

• What Is IT Service Management (ITSM)?

IT Service Management (ITSM) needs a strategic approach focused on the end-user. ITSM strategies contribute to creating an IT organization that matches the needs of users and their businesses.

In practice, IT service management (ITMS) consists of the strategies used by companies that offer IT services to their users. Therefore, technologies, processes, and people are essential in ITSM.

This mechanism seeks to understand the needs of the end-user in order to meet them. This involves the design of IT systems with efficient demand management, implementation of processes, hardware, and software that improve services. 

That is, ITSM functions provide the development of IT systems capable of meeting expectations and accommodating evolving technologies.

An institution that uses IT Service Management (ITSM) can effectively offer responsive services with more availability, at an affordable price. This solution also contributes to improving employee productivity and consumer experience, as well as optimizing the assessment and improvement of services.

• Benefits and Importance of IT Service Management (ITSM)

All companies depend on IT service management (ISTM) to some extent. This is what enables simplified management of problems, service requests, incidents, changes, and IT assets, among other actions.

ITSM helps IT professionals, and the principles of service management favor a company as a whole, ensuring more efficiency and better performance. 

Moreover, structured approaches in IT service management (ISTM) have the purpose of aligning information technology with business goals and standardizing services, considering resources, budgets, and results. It also allows you to reduce risks and expenses and improve the consumer experience. Its benefits include:

• The possibility of aligning IT teams with the company’s priorities, using metrics that calculate their success; 
• It enables different departments to collaborate;
• It unites information technology professionals to development teams through facilitated project management approaches;
• It also makes it possible to qualify IT professionals to share information that guarantees constant improvements; 
• It optimizes the coordination of requests, ensuring a more efficient service;
• It directs the focus of customer services through self-service and optimized processes;
• It allows one to respond to incidents quickly and prevent future inconvenience.

• Key IT Service Management (ITSM) Processes

Recently, ITIL’s version 4 has stopped recommending ITSM “processes”, replacing them with ITSM “practices”. This term change explains that certain elements must be considered to achieve a holistic view of the work. Culture, technology, and information and data management are among them.

However, for us, what matters is not the change of terminology, but the use of the best resources by information technology teams to ensure the efficiency of services. The following recommended actions stand out: 

• Service Request Management

Service request management must be repeated, after all, this is what makes it possible to deal with different requests, such as access to an application, hardware update, and software improvement. This workflow is capable of automating tasks and qualifying customers to accomplish them.

• Knowledge Management

Knowledge management is the possibility of generating, using, sharing, and managing the knowledge and data of a given institution. It consists of a multidisciplinary approach that allows achieving the company’s goals through good use of knowledge.

• IT Asset Management

This process aims to allow the assets of a company to be deployed, maintained, accounted for, updated, and discarded at the right time. In short, its function is to ensure the tracking and use of valuable items by a company, whether they are tangible or intangible.

• Incident Management

Here, we refer to a process that has the function of responding to incidents, such as service interruption. Taking all software services used by companies today into account, there are many chances of failure. For this reason, this process is used in order to solve problems quickly.

When an incident occurs, IT teams need a solution that enables them to respond effectively so that recovery is agile. In this sense, it is necessary to communicate with all stakeholders, remove obstacles to solve the incident and improve the service to avoid further downtime in the future. 

Nevertheless, incident management aims to resume services quickly, without harming the core business. Therefore, it may depend on a temporary solution, trying to identify the source of the problem later on. 

• Problem Management

In this case, the issue is to detect and manage the reasons for incidents in an IT service. That is, problem management is not limited to identifying and correcting incidents, but to understanding their reasons and eliminating them.

• Change Management

Change management aims to review the IT system before the requested change takes place in the network of an institution, reducing downtime in the operation. In other words, this process has the function of ensuring these changes do not affect its performance. Additionally, network changes are intended to eliminate vulnerabilities, upgrade a component to optimize performance or replace an obsolete or defective component.

There are three types of changes in the IT system or service:

• Standard changes, which consist of routine changes and obey a predefined process of risk assessment and pre-approval; 
• Normal changes, which do not have predefined processes and must involve a risk assessment and an approved implementation plan before making the changes to the network and;
• Emergency changes, which are necessary when unforeseen interruptions occur, which threaten the network.

• Configuration Management

Configuration management aims to ensure consistency of performance, functional and physical attributes of a product with its requirements, aesthetics, and operational information.

Also known as IT automation, it allows the configuration of computer system resources, servers, and other assets to be efficient and reliable, most of the time, through a high level of automation. 

This is because automation makes it possible to rely on redundancies that contribute to avoiding problems caused by human failures and keeping assets in good condition. 

Configuration management applies to systems such as: 

• Servers;
• Databases and other storage systems;
• Operating system;
• Network;
• Forms;
• Programs.

The configuration of these systems is extremely important for the good performance of your company, since it is the configuration that guarantees its operation. Other advantages of management include:

• Decreased number of security interruptions and breaches through the visibility and tracking of changes in your systems;
• Cost reduction, as duplication of technology equipment is avoided;
• Improved experience for IT teams and users, immediately identifying and correcting inappropriate configurations that may impair the performance of the equipment;
• Control of processes through the enforcement of policies and procedures related to asset identification, auditing, and status monitoring;
• Faster troubleshooting, better service quality, and lower software engineering costs;
• Effective change management, which allows avoiding problems;
• Agile recovery of service when there is downtime; and
• Better release management and transparent status accounting. 

• ITSM, ITIL, DevOps: Understand These Abbreviations

There are several structures used to guide the work of IT teams. For this reason, there are several abbreviations you need to know about the structures that most influence the work of these professionals. Here they are:

• ITSM

IT Service Management (ITSM) refers to the delivery of IT services to consumers. This approach can be influenced by DevOps concepts and planned in order to align with ITIL practices.

• ITIL

This is the most frequently accepted approach to ITSM. It focuses on practices adopted to align IT services with the demands of a business. It can contribute to companies adapting to changes and continuous scales. 

ITIL 4, its latest update, guides IT professionals to a holistic, commercial, and audience-valued benchmark, stimulating a more flexible approach based on teamwork. Its guiding principles recommend simplicity, collaboration, and feedback.

Often, this approach is misunderstood as a set of “rules” rather than guidelines that can be interpreted. 

• DevOps

DevOps ensures IT services are delivered in a practical and agile manner, as well as improving collaboration between development professionals and IT operations so that software is created and tested securely. Its benefits include: trust, the ability to solve critical problems quickly, faster software releases, and better management of unplanned work. 

The DevOps concept is based on collaboration between teams that previously worked in isolation from each other. It is about working collaboratively. 

Generally, ITSM and DevOps are launched as opposing options. That is, it is not usually very clear what these tools offer and how they can work together.

However, if your team intends to work smarter and faster, without giving up the process and control, they need to use ITSM and DevOps resources. 

This is because ITSM can be used to promote agility and meet the different demands of companies. DevOps benefits the execution of tasks, promoting collaboration. 

• What Is the Difference Between ITSM And ITIL?

Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) refers to best practices for IT service management (ITSM). Its latest version is ITIL 4, launched in 2019, which promotes collaboration as a way to provide agility and flexibility for organizations. ITIL 4 is based on six processes, namely:

• Plan: strategic planning should consider three aspects: user demands, organization limitations, and future directions;
• Engage: All stakeholders should have their demands understood. For this, user experience needs must be interpreted in order to meet their expectations with IT services;
• Design and Transition: the design must also be prepared and take into account the needs of the user, in addition to the company’s strategies;
• Obtain and Build: it is possible to create a new service internally or obtain it, this will depend on the technologies available to meet the user needs;
• Delivery and Support: after creating the service and making it available to users, IT support must be offered to enable the effective use of the solution;
• Improve: an efficient IT service management (ITSM) enables the continuous monitoring and improvement of the services offered.

1. Services Related to ITSM

An example of an IT Service Management (ITSM) related service is when you access an online help center and have your questions answered by a chatbot. These virtual agents are programmed to respond to frequent user inquiries, such as:

• How do I reset my password?
• Why is my Internet signal fluctuating?

In addition to answering questions like these, IT Service Management (ITSM) allows one to:

• Respond to requests based on machine learning;
• Visualize data in order to prioritize resources and optimize performance;
• Manage incidents and any problems;
• Restore services in an agile manner, if necessary;
• Manage assets.

1. Agile Service Management

Agile Service Management is a set of values that contribute to making organizations more flexible. Therefore, Agile acts as a solution for the time-consuming development processes, which can delay the release of new features. 

The Agile Manifesto for Software Development, launched in 2001, presents the following values:

• Individuals and interactions about processes and tools;
• Software that works on complete documentation;
• Customer collaboration on contract negotiation; and
• Response to change rather than following a plan.

The concept of Agile has gained relevance in other areas, such as sales. This is because people started to apply its main values in all types of businesses, resulting in numerous versions of the Agile manifesto, such as Modern Agile.

In addition to the four values, an Agile Service Management has 12 principles. These are:

• Meet the expectations of the public through the early and continuous delivery of valuable work;
• Split complex operations into simpler tasks that can be completed quickly;
• Understand that the best services are performed by self-organized teams;
• Provide employees with the environment and resources they need and trust in their ability to execute the project;
• Carry out processes that enable sustainable efforts;
• Maintain a constant pace for the completion of a job;
• Contemplate the change of requirements, even at the end of a job;
• Daily meetings of the teams throughout the project;
• Reflect on how to make the operation more effective by the team, followed by adjustments to achieve this goal;
• Measure the evolution by the amount of work completed;
• Constantly seek excellence; and
• Leverage changes to gain competitive advantages.

The goal of the Agile Manifesto is to ensure quality by creating products that meet the demands of the public and meet their expectations. Its 12 principles have the function of ensuring a work focused on the user and able to adapt to the changes in their needs and demands of the market. 

Now that you know what Agile is, you may be wondering how it is translated into IT service management. In practice, for the IT department to act in an agile manner, it must follow the following guidelines:

• Involve consumers in the design of services and processes;
• When launching a new solution, launch a version for a small audience and the final version according to its feedback;
• Search the processes for the user, removing unnecessary steps;
• Authorize its IT team to go beyond standardized processes to achieve more efficient solutions.

Also, you need to keep in mind the Agile approach to software development is committed to designing a program with regular increments, offering new versions to users after brief periods of work, which are called sprints.

1. Workforce Training: Understand this Approach

One can have more satisfied users by using innovative technology through workforce training. This concept assumes customers want to actively resolve their demands through their own devices and applications.

In this context, the role of the IT department is to provide everything the user needs to solve their problems and be satisfied.

In addition, the training of the workforce aims to engage employees, after all, this is what guarantees productivity, customer satisfaction, and good performance for the company.

However, in order to ensure the motivation of employees through workforce training, one needs to invest in technology, processes, and IT staff.

1. ITSM Resources 

Some features cannot be overlooked when it comes to ITSM software and tools. Here is what you should consider:

• User-friendliness

For all departments of a company to take advantage of ITSM features, the tools must be intuitive and easy to use. For this, it is recommended to adopt a self-service portal that provides the necessary information to users.

• Collaboration

To achieve the desired effect, IT Service Management (ITSM) must stimulate collaboration between different sectors. Thus, services will gain efficiency and agility.

• Flexibility

Over time, a company grows, develops, and changes. Therefore, changes should also occur with your IT Service Management (ITSM). For that reason, its tools and software must be planned to adapt to future realities.

• Easy Setup and Activation

The first obstacle faced by those who need to adhere to software or tool is often a complex setup and activation mode. So, we also recommend the use of self-service portals, as well as efficient support.

This content has explained everything about IT Service Management (ITSM), its importance, functionality, and benefits. If you know someone also interested in the topic, please share our article.

With technology increasingly present in our lives, ensuring the security of your company’s information has become a must. The market offers numerous tools to prevent cyberattacks and control internal access to sensitive data. One of the most efficient solutions we have is Privileged Access Management – PAM.

See below some of the most common questions when looking for a practical and really efficient solution to protect your company:

What Are Privileged Accounts?

All the time, malicious people appear looking for flaws within the companies’ systems to gain access to confidential data. This threat can be both external and internal. Therefore, organizations are increasingly looking for solutions that are truly capable of protecting this information.

Privileged accounts are created to control access to this data. This access is usually restricted only to people who hold leadership positions (high-level management) and administrators in the IT area. Other employees can obtain this information with the authorization of the company.
Although it is extremely important, proper control often ends up being flawed. Because of that, there is this need to have a tool really capable of directing, tracking, and filtering these accesses. Among the most efficient, we have PAM solutions.

Why Should I Invest in a PAM Solution?

Lack of control over access to certain data within an enterprise can result in major disruptions, including loss of business continuity. Many adopted systems end up vulnerable due to a lack of effective supervision.

This lack of control leaves room for the leak of information, much of it sensitive, inside or outside the company. But after all, how to guarantee the privacy of these contents?

The PAM solutions turn out to be quite efficient in this case, as they use security strategies and technologies that, together, are capable of controlling privileged access.

Moreover, they restrict which users will be allowed to enter certain accounts, applications, devices, processes, and internal systems, and control them. This prevents external attacks, which can occur as a result of an employee’s lack of attention, or sharing of sensitive information within the company.

To better understand how this management is done, we made a post explaining everything about PAM solutions.
Are PAM Solutions Really Secure?

We often associate external attacks as our only risk. However, insider threats can also put an entire organization at risk.

They are not always associated only with the people who work in a company. In this list, we can also include service providers, such as consultants, third parties and suppliers, and even former employees, who may have access to its data even after leaving the company.

Improper access can result in damage caused intentionally or accidentally. No matter the reason, in all cases the consequences can be quite bad and even irreversible.

Therefore, it is common for people to have doubts whether a PAM solution is capable of filtering these people’s access. And the answer to that question is yes! It is so secure that they are recommended by cybersecurity experts. Gartner, for example, has chosen PAM as the number-1 security project for 2 years in a row.

When it comes to reducing risk within an organization, a PAM solution is considered one of the most efficient and indispensable. It is worth mentioning that it is always important to hire credible solutions from the market.

senhasegura, for example, offers really efficient solutions, which protect the customer from possible data theft, in addition to tracking the actions of administrators on networks, servers, databases, and devices. All of this is done in compliance with demanding global standards such as ISO 27001, PCI DSS, HIPAA, and Sarbanes-Oxley.

How Does it Reduce Insider Threats? 

The PAM solution uses some features to mitigate insider and external threats. One is by protecting the credentials of your most confidential data in a central, secure vault to which few people (with permission) have access.

Privileged access can be limited so that only authorized people can consult personal customer data, trade secrets, ongoing negotiations, intellectual property, financial data, among others.

Privileged Access Management is able to direct which access each employee will have authorization. Thus, they will only be able to consult information relevant to their tasks. All of this will be controlled by the system, no matter if they are working in person or remotely.

In addition to internal data, in order to have greater control over protection against attacks, it is also possible to restrict access to external content on websites and applications that pose a certain type of threat to a company’s security.

Is It Possible to Protect My Passwords in The Cloud?

Yes. senhasegura is the only company in Brazil that offers a cloud-native password vault. The SaaS service protects your credentials, offers password rotation, auditing, and monitoring of these privileged accounts.

In this way, you minimize the duties of the security administrative department and allow the process to take place efficiently and at a lower cost. Therefore, it is ideal for small and medium-sized companies due to its advantages.

Is PAM The Same Thing As IAM?

No. Although both have the principle of controlling a company’s data, the two usually work in a complementary way, each with its own functionality.

In comparison, we can say that PAM is a little more elaborate. Identity and Access Management (IAM) is a tool used for administrators to easily manage users and legitimize access to certain company resources.

Despite that, this type of system has some gaps when it comes to privileged accounts. It is at this point that PAM becomes essential, as it works in a broader and more detailed way. This solution can inform you of everything that is being done, which sessions were started, and who is accessing certain information.

In short, a PAM solution controls everything related to this data within the company, managing to filter accessibility and ensure secure storage of all information.

Do you have any more questions on the subject? Get in touch with the senhasegura team, as we can help you find the ideal product for your needs.

Ensuring your company’s security does not have to be a concern anymore. We are sure of that, as we are experts when it comes to PAM Solution. Visit our website and learn more about all our products and services.

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Every day there is more news related to security incidents, affecting organizations of all types and segments. With the greater sophistication of attacks and even considering a cyber warfare context, the trend is that the number of security incidents will increase even more.

Many of these cyberattacks have various privileged credentials scattered throughout the infrastructure as an attack vector. According to Verizon, in its Data Breach Investigation Report 2021, 61% of data breaches surveyed involved privileged credentials.

Privileged credentials, administrative accounts, or superusers are some of the terms known to refer to credentials that allow administrative access, configuration, maintenance, and application of security measures in the environment by human users. It is worth remembering that in addition to credentials related to human users, there are also privileged credentials related to machines and applications, known as service accounts. Therefore, it is not by chance that privileged credentials are also considered the “Keys to the Kingdom”, precisely because of the high level of access they offer in applications and systems. And we’re not just talking about the IT environment: credentials in a finance department’s ERP system, with permission to transfer funds from companies’ bank accounts, for example, can be considered privileged and must be adequately protected against malicious or unauthorized agents and actions, which can bring great financial losses to the corporation.

Security regulations such as PCI-DSS, ISO 27001, SOX, and NIST require IT administrators to assess the privileges granted through privileged credentials. Data protection laws such as the LGPD, GDPR, and CCPA establish heavy sanctions for organizations that fail to adequately protect the personal data of their customers, suppliers, partners, and even employees.

Thus, managing the lifecycle of privileged credentials, as well as identifying, monitoring, and managing the activities carried out through them, is essential, not only to reduce cybersecurity risks and achieve compliance with security policies and data protection laws but to also ensure business continuity.

Therefore, to address this problem, there is Privileged Access Management – PAM. According to Gartner, the PAM solution involves policies, strategies, and technologies with the purpose of controlling, monitoring, and protecting from privileged access to critical resources. In addition, PAM strategies assist in the implementation of information security best practices, such as the Principle of Least Privilege, providing users with only the necessary permissions to carry out their activities. According to Gartner, by 2022, 70% of organizations will implement PAM practices for all their use cases, an increase of 40% compared to today.

Whether the company is a startup or a multinational conglomerate, the implementation of controls by PAM protects organizations against cyber threats and operational errors, in addition to bringing better efficiency in the execution of their daily activities.

Now you ask:
How and where do I start implementing the PAM solution in my organization?

To answer that question, here are 5 essential steps for your organization to manage privileged credentials and achieve compliance like a pro!

Discover privileged credentials in the environment.

In complex and heterogeneous environments, identifying assets and their privileged credentials is a challenge for those responsible for cybersecurity. There’s also a popular saying in the cybersecurity market that says it’s impossible to track what you don’t manage, and you can’t manage what you don’t know. Therefore security leaders must map and identify the devices connected in the environment and their respective privileged credentials, allowing maximum visibility of the holes that can be exploited by malicious agents to carry out their attacks.

Considered the best in class by Gartner, senhasegura’s discovery and onboarding solution has the ability to identify any type of device connected to your network, solving this step with ease and agility!

Implement the Principle of Least Privilege.

It means ensuring that all environment credentials have only the privileges necessary to complete the tasks assigned to them. This requires reviewing and removing admin access to devices in the infrastructure. In addition, it is necessary to assess the context of who needs Privileged Access, which devices and credentials, in addition to the risks involved, without causing unavailability or loss of operational productivity. In this way, by reducing or eliminating privileges, it is possible to achieve a balance between efficiency and safety.

Monitor actions performed using privileged credentials.

The security team must be able to identify possible violations or abuse of privileges, during the accesses performed, through privileged credentials. In this way, it is possible to guarantee the traceability of all actions carried out in the environment, optimizing the audit process of all operations carried out and obtaining operational gains in the incident management process.

Through senhasegura’s Privileged Access Recording feature, it is possible to minimize the risk of improper use of privileged credentials.

Identify your organization’s PAM maturity level.

Discovering your PAM maturity level drives operational efficiency within your organization. With the senhasegura PAMaturity test, it is possible to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, evaluate the technological resources already implemented, in addition to drawing a roadmap for the implementation of Privileged Access Management.

Now, take the test bellow to find out your PAMaturity level!

Implement a Privileged Access Management solution.

According to Gartner, it is impossible to properly manage Privileged Access risks without specialized PAM tools and related processes. senhasegura PAM is the only solution that covers all aspects of the Privileged Access lifecycle, helping security teams to ensure that the “Keys to the Kingdom” will be properly protected against malicious agents, among other threats.

Ensure the prosperity and protection of your organization with senhasegura, the easy, fast, and trusted way to be secure and get compliant.

Password reuse is one of the main reasons why passwords have been questioned as an effective measure to guarantee protection against intrusion into accounts and systems. 

This practice is extremely risky as it allows a malicious agent to have access to numerous accounts with a single string of characters, being able to steal confidential and valuable data, in addition to extorting a common user.

This type of problem can be especially devastating for organizations, which deal with a variety of information every day and can respond to legal proceedings if they do not comply with legislation such as the LGPD, which determines how the personal data of their customers, employees, and suppliers should be handled.

 

Check out some alarming statistics on password reuse:

• According to a survey carried out by Google, at least 65% of people have the habit of using the same password for different services;
• According to information provided by Microsoft, 44 million is the number of accounts vulnerable to hacking due to theft and compromise of passwords;
• 76% of millennials put their accounts at risk through password reuse, according to Security.org;
• The Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report points out that password reuse is the reason behind 81% of hacking attacks.

In this article, we show you what you need to know about password reuse. Our content covers the following topics:

• Why is the Habit of Reusing Passwords so Common?

• Password Reuse: What is the Problem with this Practice?

• What Are the Most Common Types of Password-Related Attacks?

• Three Tips for Having Strong Passwords and Managing Them Securely

• Multifactor Authentication and Two-Step Verification: How Important Are They?

Read it until the end!

Why is the Habit of Reusing Passwords so Common?

People daily connect to different websites, services, and social media that require passwords to access them. The main problem is that it is difficult to memorize dozens of passwords, especially complex ones, which are the most suitable for guaranteeing the cybersecurity of people and organizations.

Thus, it is common for people to use the same password on all their accounts, or to make small changes to differentiate the codes to be used.

But don’t worry: in the next topics, we will bring solutions to this problem, such as password managers and multifactor authentication. 

Password Reuse: What is the Problem with this Practice?

Password reuse is a risky practice for many reasons. Here are some problems caused by this habit: 

• Multiple Accounts Can Be Compromised

Reusing passwords makes it possible for a malicious agent to hack into an account to have access to others belonging to the same user. And the more a password is reused, the greater the risk of having the credentials breached.

In 2021, Facebook suffered a hack, which affected about 20% of its accounts, leaking data from 533 million people. This means that if your bank password is the same used on this social network, for example, it will also become vulnerable.

• It Puts Corporate Accounts at Risk

When an employee has no real sense of how much a cyber-invasion can harm the company they work for and how password reuse is associated with it, the organization is at serious risk.

This is because in addition to stealing personal data from this professional, malicious agents are able to gain access to the company’s accounts, causing great inconvenience, losses, and compromising business continuity.

For this reason, we always recommend that organizations promote cyber awareness among their employees and train them to deal with threats. One of the mandatory subjects in these pieces of training is precisely the risks involved in password reuse. 

Accounts become more vulnerable to brute force attacks and password cracking, and the more credentials a malicious actor has access to, the greater their power when it comes to brute force techniques.

And with more and more people trying to protect their accounts with weak and repeated passwords, it has become easier for hackers to gain access through brute force.

Also, with each intrusion, they expand their database, as they increasingly identify complex passwords they can use in future attacks.

The Consequences of Phishing Attacks Are More Severe

Phishing attacks are a means used by hackers to gain access to people’s data. Generally, it works like this: attackers send an alert pretending to be a trusted institution, and asking for important information, such as credit card details, full name, date of birth, and passwords. 

This message can come in several ways, including an email in which the user is instructed to access a fake website and enter the requested information. 

The victim can be instructed to update their data with the explanation that the account would have been accessed through a suspicious login, and follow the guidelines because trusts the institution associated with the message received. 

Therefore, it is possible to say that password reuse can aggravate the consequences of phishing attacks, since the user will have more accounts exposed.