Best Ways to Share Passwords Securely With Your Team

Given these risks, administrators and team leaders should implement healthy password hygiene policies across their businesses. Fortunately, password management solutions for businesses, such as Passpack, can simplify setting up a safe password-sharing environment.

Regardless of the business, sharing passwords is often fundamental to ensure team productivity. Most companies comprise different systems, applications, and resources, requiring users to access various platforms to perform their tasks effectively. That said, resorting to sharing passwords via email, messaging apps, or sticky notes is an unnecessary risk.

Emails can be intercepted, messaging apps may lack encryption, and sticky notes can easily get into the wrong hands. Such sharing methods can lead to data breaches, unauthorized access, and insider threats.

This is why it’s fundamental that businesses implement and promote secure password-sharing practices, like using a password management service and enabling multi-factor authentication. In fact, according to Microsoft’s 2023 Security Report, MFA can prevent 99% of account-based attacks.

As emails are universally accessible and everyone has an address, it remains a common method of sharing passwords. Although it’s easy and practical, the potential risks involved outweigh the benefits:

• ⚠️ Interception: Unencrypted emails are vulnerable to hijacking. Hackers can exploit server and network communication paths using tools like packet sniffers and man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks.
• 🪝 Phishing: Malicious actors frequently pose as trusted entities to gain unauthorized access to email accounts. If a breach occurs, they get immediate access to any passwords sent via email, which can likely compromise different branches of the business.

Another accessible and speedy way of sending passwords is via a messaging app, but then again, the risks associated overshadow the advantages.

• 🛡️ Device security: If your device is compromised due to malware or physical theft, the perpetrator can easily access your messages, including any passwords you have sent via the app.
• 💬 Message expiry: Some messaging apps have expiring messages, which might seem like an excellent channel to share credentials. While useful, it’s still not the best approach for password sharing as this still leaves a brief window of opportunity for hackers to intercept data.

Another commonly used method of password sharing is via spreadsheets. While these documents are prevalent in businesses, they also present significant risks when used to share credentials.

• 🚨 Data breach: If the hosting platform for these documents experiences a data breach, all stored information is at the hacker’s fingertips.
• 🛠️ Access management: Permissive sharing settings and inadequate monitoring of spreadsheets can expose confidential information to a much broader audience than intended. For example, if you grant “anyone with link” access to a document with passwords, and then accidentally send it to the wrong recipient, you could have a serious security breach on your hands.

Other methods to avoid include writing passwords on sticky notes, sharing them verbally, and saving passwords in web browsers. Regarding browsers, while users may appreciate the convenience of saving passwords there, this practice actually poses the risk of exposing all passwords to anyone who has access to your device.

Although it might seem like a burden for businesses to keep track of the dos and don’ts of secure password sharing, it’s actually straightforward. The best and fastest way to improve security is by using a password manager for teams or businesses.

With every business process taking place online, your company’s unencrypted data is easily exposed to hackers. Ensuring secure password-sharing practices within teams isn’t just a mere suggestion – it’s a necessity. Using unsecured channels like email and messaging apps to share credentials makes your business an easy target.

By adopting solutions like password managers, administrators can protect the business all while streamlining password sharing. For instance, opting for a service like Passpack can level up your password security with encrypted sharing, MFA, SSO, API support, reports, and role-based access. There’s no harm in giving it a test drive with the 28-day free trial of the Teams subscription.