More than half of U.S. companies (55%) and greater than four in 10 global enterprises view third-party contractors, including MSPs and MSSPs as high security risks, a new study by password manager Bitwarden found.
Yet despite the wariness of third party providers, only 41% of U.S. enterprises and 34% of global enterprises have provided outside vendors with password managers, Bitwarden’s report found. Owing to the prevalence of credential theft by hackers, strong passwords remain a priority strategy and are important in shoring up the confidence of enterprise security decision makers. But, while security sentiments fall in line with best practices, implementation often falls short, the study showed.
In the U.S., around half (51%) of the 400 security decision makers surveyed cited ‘preventing credential theft/account takeover attacks’ as the top reason for adopting password managers. Globally, the number one priority was ‘anti-fraud’, cited by 51% of respondents, and a rationale that was second-most-popular in the U.S.
Other key takeaways from the report include:
“Enterprises have always been at a heightened risk for security incidents,” said Bitwarden CEO Michael Crandell. “The majority store some combination of sensitive personal information, intellectual property, and financial information. This type of data is valuable to cybercriminals, who are aware that most employees don’t always use strong and unique passwords. Add in the remote work factor, and you’ve laid the groundwork for a password security perfect storm.”
