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The proliferation of passwords isn't just a headache for employees-it also can compromise security and become a costly burden for businesses.
HR can play an important role in ensuring that employees are educated in safe password maintenance practices that will reduce business risks, security experts say.
The typical employee relies on multiple passwords to handle everyday functions like accessing e-mail, making benefits selections and completing time sheets, according to Martin Carmichael, chief security officer for McAfee Software in Santa Clara, Calif.
"Much of this can be very sensitive personal information, so it's very important to keep it secure," Carmichael said.
"You really need to protect your passwords, put them under some sort of lock and key like an encrypted file and not keep them written on a Post-it Note stuck to your monitor," said Donald Harris, president of New York-based consulting group HR Privacy Solutions. "Employees need to be educated about these good practices."
The importance of safe password maintenance practices has grown with the increasing reliance on mobile technologies such as laptop computers. The theft of a single laptop-particularly one holding HR data-can compromise the personal data of countless workers. Data that are not protected by secure passwords are that much more accessible to a computer thief, hacker or other interloper.
Though employers have long relied on passwords and employee identifiers that include some or all of a worker's Social Security number (SSN), the practice has gone out of favor. In fact, unnecessary use of SSNs, or even parts of SSNs, as passwords is illegal in some states.
A better practice, according to Harris, is to use so-called "strong" passwords.
A strong password is usually six or more characters long and uses a combination of alphanumeric characters. Passwords that use combinations of letters with two or three numbers or...