Security teams carry a heavy load, and password risk is one of the most overlooked parts of that workload. Every year new systems, cloud tools, and shared services add more credentials into the mix. Some sit in proper vaults, others drift into documents, chat threads, or temporary workspaces.
An enterprise password audit gives teams a way to understand how messy this landscape has become. It also helps set the stage for better password practices across the company.
This guide explains how to run a practical enterprise password audit, what to look for, and how a password manager supports the process. Passwork is used throughout as an example of a great tool that fits into this workflow.
Why password audits matter inside large environments
Enterprises deal with layers of technology. Legacy servers, cloud applications, vendor systems, and internal tools all rely on passwords. A single weak credential can open many doors for attackers. The scale of these environments adds risk because passwords often get reused, shared informally, or left unmanaged when projects end.
Guidance from NIST and the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre helps organizations build better password policies. NIST’s Digital Identity guidelines encourage security teams to focus on practical strength and checks for compromised passwords rather than strict, outdated rules. The NCSC points out that long, memorable passwords and secure storage reduce user frustration and lead to better outcomes. These resources offer helpful context for shaping audit criteria.
An audit puts these ideas into motion by showing where gaps exist between guidance and daily practice.
Start by mapping where passwords live
Before assessing strength, teams need to understand where passwords are stored. In large companies, credentials often spread across shared drives, ticketing systems, personal notes, old onboarding guides, unmanaged vaults, project wikis, and third party tools. This spread is one of the main reasons password audits reveal risk that no one expects.
A password manager can make this step easier since it gives teams a central view. Passwork, for example, consolidates shared and personal vaults and offers structured spaces where teams group credentials by environment or project. Introducing a manager at this stage does not alter the audit, but it helps reduce the number of unmanaged places that must be checked manually.
Review how users create and store passwords
User behavior drives many password weaknesses. Forced rotation rules often push employees to fall back on minor changes that attackers can guess. Short length limits on older systems encourage weak strings. Urgent work prompts users to send credentials through chat or email when they need quick access to a shared resource. When teams look closely, they often find a mix of old habits and shortcuts that weaken even the strongest policies.
During the audit, look for how people create passwords, how often they change them, where they store them, how they share them during fast paced work, and how accounts are provisioned or retired. These observations reveal where policy and practice diverge.
Alex Muntyan, CEO at Passwork, sees this pattern across many organizations. “Teams often do their best under time pressure. When they do not have a secure place to store or share a password, it ends up in a note or message that persists long after the task is done,” he says.
Test password strength and uniqueness
With the landscape mapped, teams can move to the technical review. A strength assessment should examine length, character variety, predictable patterns, dictionary matches, checks against known breaches, vendor defaults, and whether passwords are reused across multiple accounts. This phase shows how exposed systems are to brute force attempts, guessing, or credential stuffing.
Password managers help here as well since they promote unique, generated passwords and reduce the chance of reuse. Passwork supports password generation and central storage, which means audits begin with a healthier baseline when teams rely on the tool.
Look closely at privileged accounts
Privileged accounts hold sensitive power. Domain admins, cloud control plane users, database owners, and root level credentials must be handled with extra care. These accounts often sit untouched for long periods and may have shared passwords or outdated rotation schedules.
The audit should identify how many privileged accounts exist, who can access them, how their passwords are stored, and whether any shared admin accounts remain in use. Look for signs that emergency access procedures lack documentation or that no logging exists for privileged sessions. Each of these findings signals a path that attackers could exploit.
Removing unused privileged accounts or transferring them into a managed vault strengthens the environment without major disruption.
Examine how passwords tie into identity systems
Enterprises often blend passwords with single sign on, multi factor authentication (MFA), identity providers, and network based controls. A password audit should assess how these layers interact. Sometimes passwords remain enabled for systems that could use SSO. In other cases, MFA fails to cover accounts that need stronger protection. Service accounts may sit outside identity workflows entirely.
Understanding these connections helps teams simplify access and remove unnecessary credentials. It also highlights where identity plans have not kept up with growth inside departments.
Review the lifecycle of passwords
Passwords weaken over time when no one tracks their lifecycle. Projects start and end. Contractors join and leave. Integration accounts get created for tests, then forgotten. Shadow IT adds more complexity. During the audit, track how accounts are created, how passwords are changed, how offboarding works, and whether old accounts get deleted or left in the environment.
A password manager supports lifecycle management by granting temporary access, automating removal, and limiting how far credentials spread across teams. Passwork gives administrators the ability to set rights that expire and to log activity for future audits.
Produce an audit summary for leadership
Leadership needs a summary that explains risk without drowning them in technical detail. A scorecard helps communicate this. It can describe the proportion of passwords that meet policy, the amount of reuse, the number of weak or breached credentials, the systems that still rely on unmanaged storage, and the main privileged account findings. It should also highlight needed remediation and suggest a timeframe for follow up.
Muntyan notes that password risk grows quickly. “Even with strong policies, new systems and user habits introduce new gaps. A password manager helps because it guides users toward safer behavior and reduces the time spent chasing unmanaged credentials,” he says.
Why a password manager strengthens the audit process
Password audits often uncover scattered storage, bad sharing habits, reused passwords, and inconsistent lifecycle management. A password manager helps address these weaknesses by providing a structured, secure home for credentials. Passwork offers a central vault with team spaces, granular rights, access logs, and deployment options for enterprises that want predictable governance across departments.
Using a manager after the audit simplifies remediation. It helps teams remove unmanaged locations, promote stronger password creation, encourage secure sharing, and maintain consistent hygiene. Over time, this reduces the scope of each future audit since many issues become easier to track.
Build a repeatable cycle
Audits work best when they become routine. Map passwords, test them, review findings, train teams, and adjust policies. Then schedule the next cycle. Enterprises that repeat this process gain visibility, reduce risk, and support healthier security habits across the organization.
A password manager like Passwork helps maintain this cycle by centralizing storage, organizing credentials, and reducing the time spent untangling password practices. With the right structure in place, security teams can keep password risk under control while focusing on higher value work.
Free trial options and Black Friday offers
A full-featured trial available with no feature limitations. This provides an opportunity to evaluate the platform against your actual infrastructure, security policies, and team workflows before committing.
If the trial meets your requirements, A Black Friday promotion runs from November 26 through December 3, 2025, with discounts reaching 50%. Organizations already planning credential management implementations may find value in testing now and purchasing during this period.
For businesses seeking to consolidate credential management, strengthen security posture, and establish audit-ready access governance, Passwork 7 provides a comprehensive solution designed for rapid deployment with minimal operational disruption.
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