Intelligent CISO Issue 39 | Page 67

decrypting myths

Experts discuss whether passwords are still fit for purpose

Cybersecurity professionals discuss how far we can rely on the use of passwords to secure our most valuable information , and how organisations should be securely operating until we can develop a more reliable method to replace passwords . he concept of a

T password has existed for millennia and while the idea of them has remained the same , our use has not . A password is no longer required to just be a word , but taking all into account , the password has remained very similar over the ages . That is now changing .

Since passwords were invented , people have been trying to bypass , steal and disrupt their use . After researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology introduced the first computer-borne passwords in the 1960s , it was only a year later when the first computer hacker stole them .
Over the years , our reliance on computers has increased , so the value of a password can unlock huge rewards for cybercriminals – both cash and other valuable assets . In fact , it was only some months ago when a researcher succeeded in guessing the Twitter password of then US President , Donald Trump .
In many ways , criminal hacking has also become more accessible , meaning the threats we experience today are more advanced than ever before .
Our use of the password has changed in response . We now use autofill functions , password managers and Multi-Factor Authentication ( MFA ).
For World Password Day this year , we spoke to four senior security experts to explore the evolution of passwords more closely .
Bypassing weak passwords with MFA
The acceleration of Digital Transformation during the pandemic is a cause for potential concern , according to CyberArk ’ s EMEA Technical Director , David Higgins .
He said : " This transformation may have boosted innovation within an enterprise , but it ’ s also created challenges for security and IT professionals . Every new corporate application or tool becomes a www . intelligentciso . com
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