Should I use a password manager?

Whether it’s your Outlook, your bank or your favourite supermarket account… we all need a password for pretty much everything that is online. Passwords aren’t going away anytime soon and with so many to manage, what really is the best way is to remember them all?  

This question often overlooked by many businesses who have online accounts with various 3rd parties.

Let’s say you’re a Finance Director and your staff submit data online under their own account with a unique password. Can you easily access this account if they suddenly leave or worse still, can you change the password on the account should a problem arise? Chances are you can’t, or if you can, this isn’t an easy process unless of course, you use a password manager. 

Using a password manager within your business is the equivalent to you having a password book where only you hold the master password. You might have reservations about others guessing the master password, however, assuming that you’ve chosen a strong, unique password that you’ve not used before – then that is a near perfect way to protect your password book from unauthorised access.  

Password managers don’t just store your passwords, they help you and your staff generate strong passwords when you sign up to new websites and upon revisiting they will auto–populate the login information for you. Password managers also work across multiple devices, so you can auto–populate and access your passwords on your phone, desktop and tablets. 

Can’t I just use the same password?

For many who need to remember multiple passwords, the common method is to use the same one for all accounts. While this makes it easy to remember, it puts all of your online accounts at risk.  Hackers attack websites all the time and if they breach a site that you’re a part of, they will publish or sell your account details and try and hit all the big names like Amazon, eBay and PayPal to cause further disruption.  

Which one password manager should I use?

All password managers perform the same duties with different ones offering different features to suit your needs. They are set up with secure master passwords, include features like two factor authentication and can sync across multiple devices. Most password managers are free to a point and have options to go premium for additional features.  

The most popular managers are 1Password, LastPass, and Dashlane. LastPass also has a premium feature that allows you to share passwords with other users, so they can log into websites on your behalf – these can even be kept anonymous should you wish to keep your password private.  

Can I check if my email or password has been compromised?

While there’s no 100% accurate way to find out, there are resources available to see if your account details may have been comprised.  Have I been pwned is the best one we’ve found.  

What’s next..

That’s it! Download a password manager start logging and updating your passwords. You’ll never have to remember another password again… apart from your master one of course!