Twenty-first International Conference on Knowledge, Culture, and Change in Organizations

Abstract

As data is becoming more valuable, breaches are becoming ever more common, exposing user data. A good password will keep your online account and information safe, from Amazon and Disney+ to your bank account. According to Microsoft Research, the average user has 6.5 passwords, each of which is shared across 3.5 sites, with the typical knowledge worker maintaining more than two dozen online accounts, requiring the typing of eight passwords a day on average. Complex, unique passwords can be a nuisance to remember, and it is easier to skip the headache by going with something simple. The worst passwords of 2019 remained unchanged from previous years, such as “123456” and “password.” This is counter productive to effective cybersecurity, even though people know through training that they should create secure passwords. In 2017, a database of 1.4 billion credentials was discovered on the Dark Web. The purpose of this workshop is to improve the training around password management by demonstrating how vulnerable simple passwords are to brute force attacks with access to such resources. It also discuss the use of passphrases, password manager software, and two-factor authentication as a means of reducing the chaos surrounding the establishment of strong, secure passwords.