What Is a Password Manager and Why Should a Business Use One?

A password manager is an application that generates long, unique passwords for every account, stores them in an encrypted vault, fills them in when you log in, and lets teams share credentials without emailing them around. The user remembers one strong master password and uses MFA to protect the vault.

Why a business needs one

• Reuse is the problem. When employees reuse passwords, a breach at any other website becomes a breach of your email. A manager makes every password different without anyone having to remember them.
• Strength. Generated passwords are long and random, immune to guessing and dictionary attacks.
• Phishing resistance. A manager fills passwords only on the real domain. On a lookalike phishing page it does nothing, which is a useful tell.
• Shared accounts. The social media login, the vendor portal, the shared mailbox: shared securely with access that can be revoked when someone leaves.
• Offboarding. Remove the user and their access to every shared credential ends at once.
• Visibility. Admins can see weak, reused and breached passwords across the company and require changes.

What to look for

A business tier with centralized administration, MFA on the vault, shared folders with permissions, breach monitoring, browser and mobile apps, and single sign-on integration. Avoid storing passwords in browsers, spreadsheets or notes apps.

Rolling it out

Start with administrators and finance, import existing passwords, enforce MFA on the vault, then expand company-wide with a short training session. Pair it with enforced MFA on the accounts themselves and dark web monitoring to catch credentials that leak anyway. It removes one of the most common causes of human-error breaches.

Password management is one of the services in Mentis Group's Enhanced Cybersecurity program.

Have a question about your own environment? Schedule a consultation with Mentis Group or call (866) 901-7808.