40% of employees are frustrated by too many workplace logins — and it's creating cyber risk

In an all-virtual working world, an unsecured device could end up costing a company thousands of dollars. But all of those passwords and logins may end up costing employees something just as valuable: peace of mind.

Four in ten employees said that having to remember multiple logins heightens stress levels and strains mental health, according to security and privacy company 1Password's Unlocking the Login Challenge report. The platform surveyed  2,000 employees  on how login fatigue affects productivity, security and mental health, as well as how these requests put essential workplace data at risk.

"[Login challenges] include everything from logging into your laptop once you start the work day to signing into licensed software accounts or internal company portals," says Steve Won, chief product officer at 1Password. "Logging in is one of the most essential aspects of work, especially in the remote and hybrid environment. [But] our research shows that, increasingly, these login practices are becoming more complicated, disruptive and stressful." 

And the inconvenience and stress starts on day one:  37% of employees reported that the onboarding process at their current job was time-consuming, confusing or challenging when it came to logging into work-related accounts; 62% have missed meetings due to the hassle of logging in and 26% admitted to having given up on doing something altogether to avoid it. 

Read more: Lack of employee training is behind 80% of company data breaches

Yet companies are right to want to secure their networks tightly. Over 80% of all company data breaches are caused by people, according to a recent report by cybersecurity resource platform SANS, and since the shift to remote work, data breaches have been on the rise. Not to mention that according to IBM's most recent report, a single data breach could cost a company up to $4.4 million.

"When organizations around the world abruptly pivoted to remote work, cybersecurity threats skyrocketed," Won says. "Suddenly, companies had to go from securing a small number of physical offices to having to secure workers across millions of remote locations."

In addition, employers implemented many tools to increase the productivity of their workforce, creating complex login processes. Yet those efforts are backfiring on many levels: one in five workers have avoided accessing employee-provided benefits, as well as caused them to skip open enrollment, forgo requesting time off and miss employer-provided perks and discount marketplaces because of login challenges.

"There are good intentions behind implementing complex logins: today's threat landscape is more sophisticated than ever before and the pace of these threats continues to accelerate," Won says. "The irony is that these security practices are now putting companies at risk by interrupting workflows, sparking confusion, and causing stress when employees just want to do their jobs."

Read more: Cyber stress: This is why employees are more worried about their virtual security

To circumvent excessive login requests, more than two in five employees admitted to dangerous online behaviors such as sharing logins and offloading tasks to others. Thirty-eight percent have procrastinated, delegated or skipped setting up new work security apps because of burdensome login processes. Almost half of employees have given up on using company-sponsored accounts at all, opting instead to use their personal email, LinkedIn, Facebook or other personal account, which drastically increases their breachability. 

"The increasingly common practice of saddling your employees with lengthy and seemingly ever-changing password requirements, disruptive authentication channels, and an array of third-party apps as services needs to stop," Won says. "Companies have to devise security practices in a way that considers how humans actually behave and look to implement solutions that don't give up convenience for the sake of security."

Won says IT professionals and employees will need to strike a compromise — asking employees about their pain points is a good place to start, but employees may just have to accept that there will always be complexity when it comes to their workplace cyber security processes. 

"A good way to start is to survey your employees about their current security tools and practices, and then try to eliminate as much friction as you possibly can without compromising security posture," Won says. "While there will still likely be some degree of inconvenience, it's important to implement solutions and practices that strike a better balance between convenience and security."