A 2016 survey reported that 40% of organizations store passwords and login details in a Word document or Excel spreadsheet. Is that such a bad thing?
The survey also says that 28% use a shared server or USB stick to retain login details.
All this is being reported as a ‘bad thing’ but we’re not so sure. There’s lessons here not just for companies. Small business, families and individuals should have some record of their main passwords and logins.
Keeping the details in an Office document (Word or Excel) makes sense.
Where else would you store them? The ‘traditional’ Post-It note on the monitor? Logins for mail accounts, computers, servers, networks and software infrastructure need to be saved somewhere. Staff might leave or be run over by the proverbial bus.
Keeping the details in a commonly used Word or Excel document means it can be viewed from almost any device, in an emergency.
Password protect the document. Keeping critical info in an ‘open’ Word or Excel document is asking for trouble. Adding a password lock on the document is essential.
Give the document a non-obvious name. PasswordStore.docx or LoginMasterList.xlsx is bound to attract the attention of any intruder. XmasPartyNotes.docx will not.
Keeping a copy on a USB stick is a sensible precaution. If your network is attacked by ransomware or some major storage failure, you’ll be grateful for an ‘offline’ copy of the important details.
An extra level of protection for portable storage is available with Bitlocker which will secure all data on the drive. If someone steals a USB stick they’ll have to get past the high-quality Bitlocker encryption to see anything on the drive. Our Windows 10 and Windows 8.1 books have chapters on Bitlocker (available in high end versions of Windows).
Another possibility for secure storage of data is OneNote which supports a password protected notebook.
