Ensuring remote work security with a password manager

In the age of distributed workforces, companies are rethinking their remote work security and work strategies. As organizations adapt their workstyles, they must also adjust their approach to security. 

A reliable and proven password manager like Bitwarden is key to securing a remote work ecosystem for businesses and employees.

Remote work security is crucial to virtual collaboration as cloud-based technologies have become the norm. As more employees work remotely, the potential attack surface increases, which can heighten the risk of security breaches and cyber threats if the company does not establish secure practices. 

Organizations must prioritize remote work security to protect sensitive data, maintain business continuity, and ensure the integrity of their corporate networks. By implementing robust remote work security measures, companies can safeguard their operations and foster a secure remote work environment. This not only helps protect sensitive data but also maintains the trust of clients and stakeholders.

Remote workers face a unique set of security risks that can jeopardize the safety of corporate networks if employees are not provided with the necessary training and resources. These include:

• Phishing attacks: Remote workers are more vulnerable to phishing attacks, which can compromise their login credentials and allow attackers to infiltrate corporate networks. Ensure you and your team know how to identify these scams and how to report them.

• Unsecured personal devices: Many remote workers use personal devices to access company networks. If these devices are not properly secured, they can become a gateway for cyber threats.

• Weak passwords: The use of weak passwords by remote workers can be easily exploited by attackers, granting them unauthorized access to corporate networks.

Addressing these security risks is vital for maintaining a secure remote work environment and protecting the integrity of corporate networks.

Employees face the daily challenge of remembering numerous passwords and maintaining secure information, notes, and other data for myriad systems. While many organizations manage access to some systems using Single Sign-On (SSO), not all providers support SSO integration.

IT professionals, help desk, customer support, and other teams need access to auxiliary systems and internal applications, each requiring an additional username and password. Most security professionals agree that organizations need both SSO-compliant and password-based solutions in place to provide the best possible security and user experience. This should extend to both personal and corporate devices for optimal remote work security best practices.

Weak password practices can lead to significant remote security risks, as remote workers and their devices, such as smartphones and laptops, are potential sources of security threats. Rolling out a company-wide password manager ensures that every team member can generate, store, and manage credentials securely across all devices.

For passwords to be secure, every app, website, and service needs a strong and unique password -- which is impossible for the average human to remember. To avoid having to memorize so many usernames and passwords, employees will often resort to using the same password for many sites -- or perhaps all sites. They may even jot passwords down on a post-it note and attach that to their monitor.

Password managers such as Bitwarden allow employees and remote workers to generate strong and unique passwords and usernames for every account. This eliminates password reuse and enables organizations using enterprise-grade password managers to create password complexity rules and other policies to ensure a certain level of security across employee accounts.

Shared accounts that require another level of control -- such as user accounts for a server, an organization’s SSH keys, or encryption key password for an SFTP server, etc. -- present another set of password challenges for sharing access information securely across remote devices. Some password managers offer collections where users can create and securely store organization passwords to share with a team, enabling administrators to share and update those credentials. Organizations can exercise centralized control over who has access to the information no matter where employees log in from, strengthening remote work security.

Secure credential sharing is crucial for remote employees, and with a password manager, secure sharing is easy.

Password managers are key to securing shared credentials within a team and organization and ensuring compliance with password complexity policies and best practices. When employees work from home, it becomes business-critical to establish a solid remote work security strategy for managing remote access securely. A password manager like Bitwarden can help.

Ready to try out Bitwarden today? Quickly sign up for a free Bitwarden account, or register for a 7-day free trial of our business plans so your business and team can stay safe online.