Password managers are used by many individuals today, to help keep track of the proliferation of website logins. Between email, social media accounts, banking, utilities, and online shopping, the average person has to keep track of a LOT of usernames and passwords. Tools like LastPass, Dashlane, and 1Password are popular and effective choices for consumer password management.
But when it comes to managing credentials for privileged accounts, businesses need a lot more than a just a place to store passwords, as explained in Bomgar’s latest infographic.
Using a consumer password manager for your privileged accounts would be like using a bicycle padlock to secure the front door of your business. The bike lock works for what it is intended to do – secure your bicycle to a post to prevent theft – but would be completely inadequate for securing a storefront from a break-in by a determined burglar. Privileged user accounts, if hacked or stolen, have the potential to be used by hackers to breach your business, causing not only reputational damage but financial impacts as well. These accounts should be protected with the equivalent of a commercial grade high security mechanical steel deadbolt.
Enterprise grade password managers, like Bomgar Vault, do a lot more than store passwords and retrieve them if forgotten. Passwords can be rotated regularly, or even after each use. Full tracking with reporting creates an audit trail, often required by compliance mandates like PCI, CJIS, and HIPAA. Many organizations use Bomgar Vault along with Bomgar Privileged Access; adding privileged session management to the credential store for a true defense in depth strategy.
So keep using LastPass for keeping track of your passwords for Facebook and Amazon, but use Bomgar Vault to protect your organization’s most critical assets - privileged accounts.
Tal Guest, Principal Product Manager
Tal Guest is a Director of Product Management with over 20 years of industry experience. He directs a group of product managers, responsible for expanding privileged access management core capabilities in the areas of remote access and the service desk. Tal also helps establish long-term business strategies based on current/future market conditions and problems faced in the privileged access management area of cybersecurity.