Not all computer accounts are created equal in your organization. You have a mix of standard accounts, which are for employees across the enterprise, and you also have privileged accounts for system administrators, cloud providers and applications. These privileged accounts are primarily for managing core infrastructure like servers, switches and routers.

Having access to a privileged account is a big responsibility, as it can allow end users to control restricted areas of the network. In a sense, a privileged account is like a master key to the data center.  

For this reason businesses must take active measures to protect their privileged accounts. These accounts ought to be fortified with advanced security measures to keep unauthorized third parties from accessing core devices and private databases.

Surprisingly, though, many businesses are failing to protect their privileged accounts.

According to a recent study of more than 500 global IT professionals, most businesses are not treating privileged accounts any differently from standard accounts. That is, 20 percent of respondents claimed that they do not change default passwords for these accounts. Thirty percent of organizations allow password sharing for privileged accounts. And just 10 percent of organizations have a dedicated commercial solution for managing them.

If this is happening in your organization, it’s time to take action before a privileged account is exploited by a hacker. Requirements must be set and enforced, mandating that these accounts are protected with strong passwords. Passwords must also be updated regularly. And privileged accounts need to be monitored constantly for signs of suspicious activity.

A new breed of hacktrepeneurs has awoken and they have little to fear and everything to gain by infecting as many companies as possible and extorting money from them. Apex Technology Services stands ready to protect your company regardless of whether it’s located in New York City; White Plains, New York; Connecticut; Australia; Europe; or anywhere else. Our full suite of cybersecurity and IT support services is at your disposal, enabling you to spend less time worrying about and more time growing your business.

In addition, our new Cybersecurity Compliance Certification for law firms will help keep your legal practice from becoming the next Panama Papers victim. This baseline cybersecurity audit for the legal industry should be considered seriously by all law firms.