Why everyone should use a password manager

Monday’s
post about a huge trove of accounts for sale on the dark web should have
prompted many of you into checking over your account security and changing any
account where you use the username and password in more than one place. If
you’re anything like me, you have many dozens of logins and cannot possibly
remember the logins for all of them. That’s where a password manager comes in.

I am
passionate about privacy and personal security and often advise clients here at
Dave’s Computers in New Jersey how to secure their computers and accounts. One
of the things I recommend is using a password manager.

What is a password
manager?

A password
manager is a third-party app or browser extension that helps manage the many
website logins and accounts we have. They don’t just save these logins, they
can help generate secure passwords and log you into these sites securely.

The upside of password
managers

Password
managers usually come as a browser plugin and will work inside your browser.
Every time you have to log into a website, you can trigger the password manager
to do it for you. If you join a new site, you can also ask the password manager
to generate a secure password and automatically save it for you. This ensures
you use a truly random, difficult password every single time.

Many password
managers include a right click dialog. Right click to have it enter your login
into a website. Right click to generate a secure password and right click to
automatically fill in a web form. Considering that they are either free or
cheap, they are a powerful tool to have around.

The downside of password
managers

There are
only two downsides of password managers that I can see. One is that some of
them are limited in their free capacity and only come alive when you pay. You
can work around this by shopping around and choosing a less limited one.

The second
downside is that a password manager is a single point of failure. If you’re
trusting all of your logins to an app, you have to trust that app to keep you
safe. Again, this can be mitigated by choosing a password manager with a good
reputation and that uses tough encryption to keep your data safe.

What password manager
should you choose?

The short
answer is the one that you like the look and feel of. The better, more actionable
answer is one of these. Try, LastPass, Dashlane, KeePass Password Safe, Sticky Password
or TrueKey.
There are other options but once you begin to see what’s on offer you can build
up a picture of what is available free and what you need to pay for.

Hint, you
don’t need to pay for anything. I use LastPass and have done for many years.
Some of the others mentioned are equally good so you will find something you
like.