An alternative to complex, costly and disruptive multi-factor authentication.

The challenge

The danger of compromised credentials from poor logon security

There are plenty of examples of how much damage one incident of unwanted access can do to a company’s reputation and /or financial bottom line.

Despite this our research reveals that many organizations are still failing to protect against compromised network logins.

Compromised credentials are key to avoiding network breach detection. You’re not likely to detect someone from ‘inside’ or ‘outside’ the organization using stolen or shared credentials because your system believes that person on the network is who they say they are. The logon belongs to an authenticated user with authorized access!

The common causes of compromised logins

It’s first and foremost end user security behavior that endangers your network.

Users are human, they are flawed, and they are careless and often exploited. They will always act outside the boundaries of policy and sometimes common sense.

Security solutions must be there to protect employees from careless behavior but also protect the business from outsiders trying to gain access to the network by pretending to be employees.

A move away from MFA security controls that impede your employees

Most organizations use at least one additional method than passwords to verify all users claimed identity to guard against compromised credentials.

MFA solutions are not widely adopted and most likely because they impede end-users with additional security steps that prove costly, complex and time-consuming for the IT department to set up and manage.

Our research shows that organizations are becoming more aware of the effect that complex security has on productivity, with 51% saying the day-to-day impact of security on employee productivity is increasing.

Avoid adding complex and costly solutions that only end up being disruptive to IT managers

When it comes to wanting to guard against the threat of compromised credentials, our research highlighted the biggest barriers IT managers face.

The top three are: complexity with existing IT infrastructure, time to manage and oversee and the cost of technology solutions.

Security does not have to be frustrating. Focus on solutions that are adaptive to your existing IT infrastructure and easy to deploy across all users without the need for additional hardware or software such as tokens or individual installations across workstations.

Select a solution that leverages on your existing investment and IT infrastructure that can be seamlessly installed without the need to go to each work station to deploy it and without the need for complex or customized code. Most importantly, select one that is easy to manage.

The solution

Include contextual security to secure your network

Striking the right balance between user productivity and user security is an understandable challenge but with the right technologies and processes in place, the two aren’t mutually exclusive.

Most organizations do use at least one additional method to guard against compromised network credentials and are prioritizing methods like real-time monitoring of accounts, alerts for abnormal logon activity and contextual access restrictions.

What method(s) does your company currently use to guard against compromised network credentials?

Your users will have already been assigned logins, but you won’t know if abnormal behavior is happening if you don’t monitor these sessions. Real-time monitoring of user activity lets you know who is connected from which workstation or device and since when. It is the simple answer to creating a more secure environment that does not have a negative impact on users.

It is important to identify the warning signs when someone uninvited has breached your network. In our survey we’ve identified the top five most common signs that IT managers look out for:

Using contextual security doesn’t just help guard against compromised credentials, it operates transparently without impeding users with any additional security actions or restrictions.

Compromised credentials can happen to everyone - Don't let it be you

Drawing on the research findings and our own expertise we have produced a simple six-step guide to those organizations that want the best of both worlds — a secure network and a productive workforce.

• Step 1

  Deploy two-factor authentication

  to all user accounts to verify the identity of access attempts.

• Step 2

  Implement real-time monitoring

  so you know what’s happening on your network.

• Step 3

  Look at contextual information

  so you can identify if authenticated credentials have been compromised and stop network access.

• Step 4

  Customise network access controls

  on when, where and how long users access the networks. If an employee signs in from an unusual location from an unusual time — you’ll know something is not right.

• Step 5

  Choose a solution that is neither complex nor costly

  and also does not impede productivity so you can strike the right balance between protection and detection, and user security and user productivity.

• Step 6

  Train, educate and regularly remind employees on security,

  alongside sensible restrictions that will protect them and the network. Make them feel empowered and unimpeded, safe in the knowledge that if mistakes are made, the security solution will protect the network.