Strong passwords are remaining a top priority for enterprises as they are important in shoring up the confidence of enterprise security decision makers.

In a new global survey of enterprise security decision makers commissioned by Bitwarden and conducted by 451 Research (News - Alert), data found an increase in remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic has compelled 63% of U.S. companies to deploy password management technologies, compared with 57% globally.

In the U.S., around half of respondents cited preventing credential theft/account takeover attacks as the top reason for adopting password managers. Globally, the top priority was anti-fraud, cited by 51% of respondents, and a rationale that was second-most-popular in the U.S. Time-saving and reducing help desk calls were of lower priority in the U.S. and globally.

The survey also revealed that 93% of enterprises are maintaining or increasing their password management budgets, and almost half of global enterprises believe organizations should provide password management tools for employees both at work and at home

However, while security sentiments fall in line with best practices, implementation can often fall short.

Weak passwords are vulnerable to password theft or compromise, and this has led the enterprise to complement passwords with strategies such as one-time passwords, email verification codes, SMS or biometric factors. Almost all global respondents claim familiarity with these types of passwordless authenticators. Yet, 55% of all global respondents and 60% of all U.S. respondents said passwords are ubiquitous.

“Enterprises have always been at a heightened risk for security incidents,” said Bitwarden CEO Michael Crandell. “The majority store some combination of sensitive personal information, intellectual property, and financial information. This type of data is valuable to cybercriminals. Add in the remote work factor, and you’ve laid the groundwork for a password security perfect storm.”

Crandell also said that about one-third of respondents in the U.S. went through a security incident that was caused by poor management, which is a high number considering the destruction data leaks can cause. 

“For enterprises, this should be a no-brainer, as strong password management is proven to mitigate risk,” said Crandell.