_{The challenge}

Secure password management for five municipalities

For an organization with seven organizations (five municipalities, two common regulations), multiple offices and a variety of tasks, good IT security is quite a challenge. Although the Kempen municipalities already used password manager solutions, these were no longer sufficient. The biggest bottleneck was the lack of user discipline: many employees barely used the tools and continued to reuse passwords or store them locally in browsers or notebooks. For the ICT department and the CISOs, the danger was clear: poor password hygiene is one of the main attack routes for cybercriminals.

Funs de Bie, Shared Service Center Team Coordinator at Cooperation Kempen Municipalities, says: “We saw that the people who already thought it was important did participate. But the risk lay with the others. We had to do something about that.”

There was therefore a need for a solution that combines ease of use with central enforceability - in a positive way - and insight for the ICT department and security officers.

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_{The approach}

Choosing MindYourPass together

The Kempen municipalities investigated the market and deliberately chose MindYourPass. The decisive factors:

• The system can really enforce use instead of leaving it optional.
• Employees only need to remember one easy to remember password.
• There are extensive reports and dashboards to monitor usage and risks.
• MindYourPass provided intensive guidance with adoption and implementation.

The rollout was planned and intensive. The project team first took an in-depth course themselves. After that, seven internal ambassadors were trained to help colleagues with questions. Each team introduction combined an explanation of the “why” with practical application: employees immediately added their first websites to MindYourPass.

Karin Kanen, privacy officer at the organization, says: “We deliberately focused heavily on introduction and guidance. In two months, we had rolled it out across the organization.”

_{The result}

80% adoption and central insight

The approach paid off. Currently, the use of MindYourPass is around 80%, half to 60% intensive. The dashboard provides privacy officers and ICT administrators with insight into usage, so that they can tighten policies and enforce them where necessary.

Employees experience the system as user-friendly, partly because it looks like Google or Apple's password vaults but centrally managed and secure. There has also been more awareness about the importance of strong, unique passwords - even for private use on business devices.

“We want security as something that also benefits employees, instead of having to. That ease of use was a very important decision for us,” adds Funs.

_{Reflection and future}

Part of a broader security strategy

Password management is not a stand-alone solution, but part of the wider security strategy of the Kempen municipalities. Attention remains on training, monitoring and awareness. Integration with legacy and on-premise systems is also on the agenda for the future.

“We regularly check the dashboard to see where else we can enforce or improve,” says Karin. “It's important to keep your finger on the pulse.”

Both Karin and Funs emphasize how important the partnership with MindYourPass was for success. The short lines of communication, the input and the willingness to provide training made a big difference.

Funs: “I'm very happy that we had such a permanent sparring partner who really took us along on the journey. The enthusiasm and engagement were contagious.”

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