4. Unfriendly password requirements

[rakhirhif8963]

For years, ITOps teams have been taught that they must enforce strict password requirements on users. They were told to require passwords to be as complex as possible and to force users to update them early and often.

M of the traditional password recommendations still apply. However, in recent years it has been recognized that being too strict about passwords is a security mistake. If you make it unnecessarily difficult for users to manage passwords, they will start doing things like writing passwords on sticky notes that they put on their monitors, which is the exact opposite of what you want.

You may not be aware, but NIST revised its password guidelines in 2020 to encourage user-friendly password policies. If your ITOps team hasn’t reviewed its password requirements in a while, now is the time to do so.

5. Over-reliance on multi-factor authentication
Relying too much on multi-factor authentication (MFA) is another common security mistake ITOps teams can make.

While requiring MFA is certainly a best practice that can belize mobile database reduce the risk of attacks, a mistake that ITOps engineers can make is to assume that systems are virtually invulnerable to attack just because they are protected by MFA.

The reality is that sophisticated attackers regularly find ways to bypass MFA. Teams should require MFA where it makes sense, but they should treat MFA as an additional layer of protection, not an ironclad guarantee against hacking.

The Key to Preventing Security Mistakes: Be Proactive
From ignoring SaaS security risks to relying too much on strong passwords and multi-factor authentication, ignoring critical security monitoring requirements, and more, there are many security mistakes that well-intentioned ITOps teams can make when managing IT systems. Fortunately, with a proactive security strategy in place, these risks are easy to avoid or mitigate.