IT Department and Auditors at Major Pharmacy Chain Got Into a Rip-Roaring Fight About Using 'Password' on Cisco Firewall
The Register, Thursday, October 22nd, 2026
A pen tester found 'password' as an edge firewall's enable password; the hour-long fight that followed was really about IT bonuses.
In The Register's PWNED column, Suzu Labs COO Dahvid Schloss recounts auditing a large US pharmacy chain's network gear and finding an internet-facing Cisco firewall whose enable (admin) password was literally 'password.'
On the readout call, auditors and IT argued for more than an hour over whether it was a high or medium finding.
Schloss later learned that auditors controlled IT bonuses and any high finding would cancel them.
The lesson goes beyond weak credentials: tying compensation to security findings can push teams to minimize and deny problems instead of fixing them.