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How to Create a Culture of Security

  |  Dashlane

Keeping your business secure means involving every employee in your cybersecurity plan. Here’s where to start—and how Dashlane can help.

Why create a culture of security at your company?

In cybersecurity, the only constant is change. That applies both to your business practices and to cybercriminals. Across the board, many businesses have recently accelerated their “digital transformation”—meaning more cloud computing and shared networks. This is especially true when it comes to remote work and “BYOD” (bring your own device), which are now standard practices for many companies. Yet as more organizations become remote or hybrid, breaches also continue to rise: In the first three quarters of 2020, 36 billion records were exposed due to data breaches of 3,000 organizations—and that’s only counting those publicly disclosed. 

More than the latest technology, cybersecurity in business is dependent on people. In a workplace, a strong security culture means each employee is invested in protecting company assets and information, both by understanding the cost of a breach and their individual impact on cybersecurity.

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How to create a culture of security

Employees want to be part of cybersecurity solutions at work: A 2020 report revealed that 79% of respondents took some responsibility in their organization’s overall security. With the right tools, best practices, and by communicating your organization’s objectives, you can work with employees to effectively build a strong security culture. 

Overcoming obstacles

For most companies, one of the greatest security weaknesses to overcome is poor password habits. A large percentage of IT professionals are concerned about employees reusing passwords, a common pitfall for organizations. Additionally, employees can be guilty of storing passwords on sticky notes or in web browsers; sharing passwords with colleagues in unsecure ways; and using passwords that are both easy to remember and easy for hackers to guess. It’s not necessarily that employees don’t care about security—usually, they are just prioritizing convenience. 61% of employees use password workarounds to save time and get their jobs done quickly. 

Creating a culture of security doesn’t have to slow your employees down, and it can be broken down into several steps:

  1. Share your company’s objectives for building a strong cybersecurity culture with your employees. Make sure to include why it’s important to the business, and how they will be a part of it.
  2. Introduce effective tools, including a password manager and dark web monitoring
  3. Gain insights to your company’s overall password health, and track progress over time. 
  4. Share progress with your employees, and make adjustments where necessary. Send follow-ups, including nudging reluctant staff members and celebrating improvements. 

You don’t have to go it alone. Dashlane’s built-in features can help you achieve all of the above in ways that are manageable and effective.

Using Dashlane to Create a Culture of Security

For employees, managing credentials for a multitude of accounts can be agonizing. It’s understandable why many will turn to unsecure methods just to get it over with. Dashlane has helped over 20,000 organizations onboard employees, ultimately simplifying the necessity of password management. Not only does Dashlane streamline the login process, it also keeps company and employee data airtight, gives admins access to their company’s overall password hygiene, and scans the dark web for compromised credentials. Below are some of Dashlane’s built-in features, and why they can be a boon for company security. 

Dashlane’s Password Health Score 

A password health score can give insight to each employee’s password strength or lack thereof, preventing future cyberattacks. On Dashlane, an admin’s dashboard breaks down each employee's Password Health, indicating which accounts are using weak or compromised logins.

Dashlane’s business password management software displays an overview of company password health over time.

When an account is at risk, Dashlane makes it easy for employees to generate a strong password replacement, with a link to the account and an autofill feature. Admins can also monitor the overall improvement of password hygiene at the company. 

Effective ways to use Dashlane’s Password Health Score include:

  • Setting a Password Health Score goal of 90 for employees. 
  • Educate staff about the risks of compromised logins and weak passwords—not just for the business, but for employees as individuals. 
  • Incentivize employees with low scores to improve their Password Health by rewarding progress. 
  • Encourage employees to take an active part in the process by monitoring their own Password Health and looking out for notifications from Dashlane when their credentials have been compromised. 
  • Monitor progress to evaluate the efficacy of your company’s security campaigns, and share improvements at town halls or executive briefings. 

Dashlane’s Dark Web Monitoring 

Despite our best efforts, data leaks can happen, and hackers will inevitably share compromised logins on the dark web. All Dashlane users with a business account have access to Dark Web Monitoring. Here’s how it works:

  • Employees can add up to five email addresses to be monitored. 
  • Dashlane scans the dark web, including billions of accounts, flagging any logins that have been exposed. 
  • Dashlane alerts employees that their passwords have been compromised, providing a quick login link to change their passwords. 
A screenshot of the Dark Web Monitoring feature in the Dashlane web app.

With Password Health Scores and Dark Web Monitoring, your company’s security, and that of your employees, can greatly improve. 

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