Governments worldwide document specific guidance related to cybersecurity and define best practices related to protecting business-critical resources from attack. The Government of Canada (GC) provides detailed password guidance best practices to keep passwords from being compromised. In this review... Read More
Compliance
Compliance Falls Short: New Research Shows Up to 83% of Known Compromised Passwords Would Satisfy Regulatory Requirements
Organizations of all kinds look to regulatory recommendations and standards for guidance on how to best construct a secure password policy for their networks. However, new research shows regulatory password complexity and construction recommendations are not enough. Today, the... Read More
Guide to the PCI-DSS v4.0.1 regulations [Updated for 2025]
The PCI DSS compliance framework has been a staple in the cybersecurity realm for businesses handling credit card transactions. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard was developed to encourage and enhance payment card account data security. It helps define consistent security... Read More
NIST 800-53 guidelines and requirements
To help increase their cybersecurity posture and successfully meet compliance regulations, organizations must consult the latest guidance regarding security and privacy controls for securing business-critical data. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is a respected authority for... Read More
How to make your password policy NCSC compliant
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), formerly known as the CESG, introduced new Cyber Essentials password recommendations to combat the swell of data breaches. What was once perceived as a best practice, such as password complexity, is now considered... Read More
NIST MFA guidelines: Make sure you’re compliant
End-user passwords are often the weakest link in IT security, providing the path of least resistance for an attacker looking to penetrate business systems. Users commonly choose easy to remember, and consequently, easy to compromise passwords. According to Verizon’s... Read More
2022-2023 NIST 800-63b Password Guidelines and Best Practices
The most basic form of authentication is the password. Despite many advancements in cybersecurity, the username and password, although outdated, are still used as the most common form of authentication today. Enterprise environments have long used password policies to... Read More
Active Directory reversible encryption explained
If you have administered password policies in Active Directory or looked at the local policies present in the Windows client operating system, you may have noticed an interesting setting contained in the Account policies section. The setting is Store... Read More
Australia’s Cyber Security Strategy and stolen credentials
To address the growing number of cyber threats, Australia released a new version of the Australia’s Cyber Security Strategy 2020 on August 6, 2020. The 2020 version of the strategy replaces the earlier strategy from 2016, and will be delivered through the combined efforts... Read More
Password Policy Compliance Report in Specops Password Auditor
Organizations looking to evaluate how well their existing password policies measure up against different compliance standards may benefit from running a free scan with Specops Password Auditor. One of the reports Password Auditor provides is the Password Policy Compliance report.... Read More