Still on the Fence About Getting a Password Manager? Here’s Why You Need One and How to Set One Up

Staying safely online and protecting your personal information is sometimes easier to say than to do. One of the ways you can help protect your information and accounts is to create a solid and unique password for each of your online accounts. Ideally, this means at least eight characters, with a mixture of letters, numbers and uppercase symbols.

Although it can be easier to remember a single password, whenever you reuse this password, you facilitate the pirates to access your information. After all, if they determine your password and are reused, they can theoretically access all your accounts that share the same connection identification information. The search for the Hive Systems cybersecurity company suggested that a low password can be cracked instantly by a hacker, which makes more important than ever that you have secure and unique passwords for each account.

All this is good, but trying to keep track of dozens of passwords can easily lead to forgetting significant connection information in inappropriate times. Password managers are vital tools that are designed to help you not only remember passwords, but also to protect your information and even create new random passwords to protect you. Despite this, four out of five American adults do not use password management, according to a study by Security.org. In addition, a recent CNET survey revealed that 49% of American adults have risky password habits.

Here is why you need a password manager and how to configure one.

What is a password manager and why do I need it?

A password manager is an online service that stores your passwords as well as other data such as credit card numbers, bank account information and identification documents in a secure and encrypted environment. You need one of the largest potential vulnerabilities – low or recycled passwords – and does hard work for you.

Bad password habits are dangerous for your digital safety. The use of low passwords makes your accounts easy to break, and the reuse of passwords leaves you open to the padding of identification information that can compromise the accounts that share the same password.

But with a password manager, you just have to remember a single master password, and the password manager takes care of the rest – allowing you to create solid and unique passwords for each of your online accounts. If you do not know how to create a solid password, or if you do not want to offer one by yourself, your password manager can create one for you. Many password managers also include a functionality that analyzes your current passwords and allows you to know which are low or reused and must be modified.

You can also safely share passwords and sensitive documents with your family and friends if you need them. And if you shop online, you can easily fill your credit card information to make purchases without having to have your physical credit card at hand.

Your password manager can also help you fight against phishing scams. Even if a phishing attempt encourages you to click on a malicious link, he will not deceive the password manager. Your password manager will detect that the URL is different from the site to which you usually connect – whatever its similarity, it may look like the naked eye.

If you are afraid of storing all kinds of sensitive information in one place, you don’t need to be. The best password managers use a zero knowledge approach to secure your passwords and other information that you store with them – which means that even the password manager itself cannot access your passwords or other data, because everything is encrypted before leaving your device. And if your password manager cannot access your data, either.

How to configure a password manager

The first thing you will have to do is choose a password manager and configure an account (Cnet List of best password managers is an excellent starting point). Some password managers have a free level that generally includes all the basic features you would need, but you can expect to pay from $ 35 to $ 60 per year for a premium plan that includes things such as access to several devices, storage of expanded files and family sharing.

When you configure your account, you will be asked to create a main password. This is the only password you need to remember – make sure that is something you remember, but complex enough to make it difficult for others to guess. Also make sure that your master password is not one of your existing passwords that you already use on other sites. Some password managers, such as 1Password, offer an printable “emergency kit” which includes information such as your username and digital key and where you can note your master password. Yes, you can write down your password, just be sure to keep the piece of locked paper in a secure location.

We really cannot emphasize this piece enough: do not forget or lose your master password or your emergency kit because, as a safety precaution, password managers generally do not offer a way to recover it. If you are locked, there is no way to come back.

Once you are all configured with your Master account and password, you can download the software to your devices. As a rule, you will be invited to download the application that corresponds to the operating system you use when you configure your account (iOS, Android, Windows or MacOS). You can also find download links on the website management website for any other device on which you want to use your password manager. If your password manager offers a browser extension, go ahead and install it-it will facilitate the implementation of your passwords on the sites.

After that, you will have to add your passwords to the password manager. Most password managers offer easy ways to import your passwords from various locations, be it your browser, a spreadsheet or other password manager. You can also enter your passwords manually.

Once your passwords are loaded in your password manager, you are ready to go. As long as you are connected to your password manager, it will offer you to fill your connection information when you visit the sites and services you use online. It will also propose to save new secure connection information on the new accounts you create – ultimately avoiding putting your safety online in danger.

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