The importance of balancing security requirements and employee user experience

LastPass released the findings of an IDC survey which revealed that “balancing company security requirements and the employee user experience” is the number one identity challenge, followed by “employees struggling with too many passwords.”

As organizations continue to face the challenges of managing a higher volume of remote employees who need to access different tools and systems outside of a traditional office, leaders can no longer rely on pre-pandemic protocols, policies and infrastructures to keep online data secure.

According to the survey, 83% of the organizations who have suffered a security breach believe the breach resulted from a compromised password or identity compromise such as phishing, highlighting a greater need for organizations to adopt identity and access management solutions that work with all employees, are capable of securing every credential in the company, and promote the right security behaviours.

Employees struggling with too many passwords

With employees continuing to struggle with having to remember upwards of 50-120 passwords, enabling a password manager creates a universal and user-friendly solution to allow employees to securely access the tools they need to effectively do their job. Adopting a password management solution puts the employee in control, helping to drive security awareness and transforming users into one of the strongest defences against potential security threats.

“Identity and access controls are core components for addressing many future-of-work imperatives. As the number of daily login events rises, the user experience increases in importance. Enterprise password management (EPM) addresses security requirements while providing a consistent and comfortable user experience,” said Mark Child, Research Manager at IDC.

“It’s imperative that organizations put in place a universal and user-friendly solution to enable all their employees to securely access the tools they need to do their jobs, regardless of where that may be. Security controls need to be transparent and manageable for all users.”

Employee identity management challenge

• Password managers remain a valuable addition for organizations wanting extra layers of protection and user convenience. With deployment at 45% of respondent organizations, Password Managers are the most widely used identity and access management solutions.
• Organizations looking for budget friendly, low complexity solutions that deliver robust security for the hybrid work environment are leveraging Enterprise Password Management. With 45% of companies saying that more complex identity solutions such as SSO and MFA are nice to have, they share that they do not currently have the budget or resources for these types of solutions.
• 98% of respondents said that remote work has impacted their security operations. The top reasons for this include inadequate security on home networks, remote workers being targeted specifically by cybercriminals, employees accessing corporate data/applications on inadequately protected devices, and poor password hygiene.

“Long gone are the days of workers being tied to their desks, and this new environment is bringing even newer security challenges for companies. This latest survey explores the future of work and how businesses can expand their security amid rising identity attacks in the industry,” said Katie Petrillo, Director of Product Marketing for LastPass.

“As we look to the future of the workplace, employers who embrace deploying a single, user-friendly solution will help ease the employee experience, which is why password managers are fundamental to securing identity and access within an organization.”