Of all the IT services your company may use, security is among the most important and the sort that needs updating the most, as new threats emerge all the time.

However, the danger is not just the result of more sophisticated criminals, although that is a major factor. The popularity of remote working has also opened a door to danger because not everyone is equipped to maintain data and communications between locations without vulnerabilities emerging.

Among these is the use of passwords. These enable authorised people in different places to access data and systems, but hackers have found many ways of getting past them.

Reflecting on this, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has highlighted alternatives to passwords, such as passkeys and password managers.

It wrote that when using a password manager to store passwords, it is important to consider the alternatives. These can be a first party manager installed in the device by the manufacturer, such as Chrome or Edge, and a third-party manager, which is made separately but can integrate with your browser.

The benefits of such managers include ensuring you generate strong passwords: None of the ‘1234’ or ‘password 123’ kind that many still use and are extremely vulnerable. It also has an all-important password recovery system.

In a separate article, the NCSC discussed alternatives or supplements to passwords. It noted that while the prediction made by Bill Gates 20 years ago that passwords would die has proved untrue, but as they remain so common and are used across different devices and accounts, the security risk is high unless multi-factor authentication is used.

Multi-factor authentication can include elements like a one-time passcode, sent to the user’s mobile number once the password has been entered. This means that for a hacker, finding the password via a data breach is not enough. It would be like having to get through two doors but only having the key for the first one.

Alternatives include biometric details, an attached item like a USB to indicate the presence of an authorised user.

Sometimes cybersecurity is about sophisticated algorithms and Blockchains. But on other occasions, we can help set you up with multi-factor authentication that provides far more protection than a single password ever could,