Research reveals shortcomings of the corporate password manager

Although business managers often assume the majority of internal online security threats are generated by the careless actions of common employees, a new study from Lieberman Software has suggested that the lax attitude of an entrusted password manager may be causing problems for a number of companies.

According to SC Magazine, the holiday season can be an online security minefield in the workplace. An increase in online shopping and the tendency for workers to "take their foot off the pedal" during the last few weeks of the year often introduce a wave of new threats. However, the study, which was acquired by the news outlet, suggests that IT administrators may be causing as many problems as they're solving.

In a survey of more than 300 IT professionals, four in 10 respondents indicated that passwords are shared among IT staff. Additionally, half of these departments take longer than 90 days to reset privileged network passwords.

Worse yet, there is also emerging evidence to suggest password managers may not deserve the trust they have been given. According to Lieberman research, 26 percent of IT security staff reported using their access rights to view confidential files and employee information.