If you purchase Post-it notes from your stationer of choice, a multi pack works out at roughly 1 penny per Post-it.
If you now choose to write down your suitably complex password and stick it to the front of your monitor ‘for convenience’ the cost to your business may have just increased significantly.
Anyone with visibility of the screen which might include colleagues, visitors, general public, maintenance staff, cleaning contractors, etc. will all have the opportunity to view and note the password – hardly a challenge when just about all of us have a camera with us at all times in the form of a smart phone.
Inadvertently disclosing the password could result in an embarrassing internal situation or, much worse, an external data breach. All of a sudden, the cost to the business becomes not just one of reputation but also potential GDPR penalties.
I have already written about the importance of passwords, how to come up with something memorable, how to keep track of them and why you shouldn’t re-use the same password in multiple locations. If you follow this advice, don’t then throw it away with a sticker on the side of a screen, under a keyboard or in the top drawer of the desk.
Somebody once said to me that displaying your password was the IT-security equivalent of leaving a key under the mat. I replied, “It’s worse; more like leaving the key under the mat with a note on the door explaining where the key is!”
For help on passwords, security and other guidance to help support areas such as PCI Compliance, please contact me on 0118 976 7111.