Data Breach Threat: 22% of Healthcare Workers Share Their Passwords

Across industries, about 35 percent of IT leaders and professionals believe no password-sharing occurs within their organization, according to a recent survey by IS Decisions.

However, at least some of these respondents are mistaken, as the survey reveals about 19 percent of all users share their passwords with others. In the healthcare industry, the figure is slightly higher, at 22.3 percent.

Users share passwords for a variety of reasons, including when delegating work or simply when a coworker asks for it, according to the survey. However, password-sharing undermines security protocols and places an organization at increased risk for a data breach.

To combat the issue, IS Decisions recommends attacking it on two fronts: culturally and technically. "That means educating people about the dangers of password sharing, but using technology to help people adhere to the policies too, as there will always be people who will try to break the rules," the survey authors write.

Survey results are based on the responses from 500 IT professionals in the U.S. and the U.K.

More Articles on Data Security:

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