Password Hygiene for Small Businesses: A Practical Policy

Small teams often share logins and reuse passwords, which makes them easy targets. A simple policy reduces risk without slowing people down.

Use a business password manager

Give every employee access to a team vault. Shared accounts are stored there, and access can be removed when someone leaves.

Require two-factor authentication

• Email and cloud storage first.
• Finance and admin accounts next.
• Prefer authenticator apps and security keys over SMS.

Rules that work

• Unique passwords for every service.
• No sharing through chat or email.
• Long passphrases for the vault.
• Immediate removal of access for departing staff.

Train and test

Run a short session on phishing and password habits. Check periodically that 2FA is enabled everywhere it should be.