According to advice from Britain’s National Cyber Security Council website customers should be able to cut and paste passwords in order to access their accounts.
The NCSC, which is part of GCHQ, offers advice for individuals and businesses on how they can keep their data and accounts safe from possible attacks by cyber criminals.
Many website developers discourage users from copying and pasting passwords during log-in, believing that this adds an extra layer of security.
However, the top cyber experts in Britain say that consumers who are forced to use more complex passwords are more likely repeat the same phrase on multiple sites.
According to the NCSC, this compromises the security of all accounts in the event that a data breach occurs in one location.
According to the National Cyber Security Council, websites should allow customers to copy and paste passwords during log-on. This reduces the chance of being victims to cybercrime.
Experts at NCSC – a part of GCHQ – stated that customers are more likely to request increasingly complex passwords. This means that people are more likely reuse a phrase on multiple sites.
The NCSC has provided a six-point plan to help protect your accounts against cyber attack.
According to the NCSC, “We believe it’s one those “best practice” ideas that has common sense instant appeal that may not have made sense once.” It doesn’t make sense when you look at the bigger picture.
“Password pasting is a great way to increase security. It helps to reduce password overload. This is something we cover in our Password Guidance.
Web forms that allow the pasting of passwords work well with password manager software.
“Password managers are software and services that allow you to choose, store, and enter passwords in online forms.
The NCSC believes that password administrators can prevent overload by controlling complex phrases across multiple sites.
This eliminates the possibility of entering an incorrect password or being locked out of your account.
The main problem with password managers is that if the phrase protecting it gets compromised, all accounts are open to fraud.
According to experts at NCSC, “Imagine if you didn’t have a password management system or that unprotected document on the computer with your passwords inside it.
“Without password manager, it would be nearly impossible to remember all of your passwords.”
Accounts can be made vulnerable if they are reused or written post-it notes at a location that is easy to find (e.g. on a computer’s screen).
Users might also decide that a simple, easy to guess word is more convenient.
Many internet users complain about having to remember too many complicated passwords in order to log on to multiple websites.
Critics say that password pasting is a way to allow brute force attacks to be carried out. However, it makes them easier for security because they don’t have to be used every time you log in.
Critics also believe that having passwords on a computer’s clipboard makes them more vulnerable to being intercepted.
The NCSC, however, dismisses these criticisms. Instead, it argues that companies should improve their cyber security and make their networks less susceptible to attack.
The NCSC stated that “Rather than stopping password-pasting, help your computers avoid catching viruses by following our guidance on how to secure enterprise IT.”
“And install software updates – The IT version of eating your fruits and vegetables. It’s one the best ways to secure your computer.