by Rodney W. Harper
It’s one of the best click bait titles I could think of but it’s also one the most often things I preach to my friends and family. Use Password Managers!
You may be asking yourself, or probably yelling at the screen, “Why do I need to use a password manager? I never forget my passwords and I never get hacked.”
Well dear reader, first you are probably wrong about one of those two things you just yelled at the screen and secondly, I am glad you ask.
Reason #1:
Numero Uno, the most important thing comes first in this article since I hate it when these tidbits are buried at the end of an article.
If you can remember all of your passwords, then they are probably too simple (or all the same).
You want to have strong passwords for all of your passwords. I have mentioned in a previous article what strong passwords are. But as a refresher, it’s using a combination of special characters, mixed cases of letters, numerals and in an order that doesn’t really spell anything or uses patterns that hacker tools will look for.
So, if you can remember it and it is a strong password, then I applaud you. Chances are, you can’t and take the load off of your memory unit and use a Password Manager.
Reason #2:
The second most-awesome reason why I am making this recommendation.
You can look up your password in a secure environment and only have the remember just one master password.
Instead of remembering (or trying to remember) multiple passwords, just remember one. It’s the most important one, that keeps all of your other, hard to remember passwords safe and sound.
Password Managers are databases, and these databases are encrypted and kept in a secure cloud on on-disk storage that has to be decrypted before viewing. Logging in one time, to your Password Manager, will allow you to access all of your saved passwords in a single, convenient and secure location.
Reason #3:
Even though I said number 1 was the most important, I think #3 is equally important due to convenience.
Most “good” Password manager will sync across multiple devices (PC Desktops, Tablets, Mobile Devices, Browsers, etc.).
That’s right, you can have that same password manager installed inside your browser as an extension, or on your mobile device as an app. Many popular Password Managers have both PC and Mobile apps that you can install and use a single account. This syncs the database on those devices so if you update or add passwords on your mobile phone, you will have that same password available on your desktop or in your browser.
That’s the feature that really sold me on the usefulness of Password Manager many years ago.
I am not done yet, here are some other features that are also good reasons for using a Password Manager.
- They can generate Strong Passwords for you.
- The passwords are stored in a secure, encrypted environment.
- You can update and add passwords easily, usually automatically.
- Some apps will even go through the process of changing your password on the site and then storing the new password.
- There are FREE Password Managers or some that offer premium features at a low cost.
- You can feel secure.
So, what are you waiting for? Fire up your web browser, go to your favorite search engine and search for your next Password Manager. Here are a few names to get you started.
LastPass, 1Password, Dashlane, and True Key — and the list goes on.
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