The average person has to keep track of between 70 and 100 passwords. It’s no wonder we struggle to remember them all and end up re-using the same one (don’t do it!) or making them less secure by being easy to remember (don’t do that either).

One way to handle the password overload is to use a password manager to generate and remember all your passwords for you.

Since most passwords we deal with are logins for websites, the password manager built into your web browser is a good place to start for most people. You may have noticed a pop-up window in the browser suggesting a new password when you get asked to create a new one or offering to remember a password that you have just entered.

Here are Cyber Coach’s top tips to help you pick and use a password manager.

Web browser can manage passwords

For most people, the (free) password manager built into your web browser is good enough for every day use. You will find it more useful if:

Always use the same web browser (Safari on Apple, Chrome or Firefox or Edge on Windows) that way all your passwords will be remembered in the same place. (Web browsers don’t share passwords with each other)

Create a free login for your web browser to enable synchronisation if you have more than one device (such as a phone and a laptop). This means a password created on your phone will then be copied to your laptop automatically within the web browsers password vault. Then when you visit the same website on your laptop, the password will be available for you to use.

Using a dedicated password manager app

A dedicated password manager app offers more features and security than the ones built into web browsers – but you do usually have to pay for them.

Personally, we use 1Password as it works well with both Macs and Windows, and we have several clients who use LastPass. There are others available too – look in your app store (but be wary of anything that is free – when it comes to security you want to know how the developer is making their money)

We use a password manager because it allows us to more easily do things like:

Share passwords with other people in a secure way
Let family members have access to some or all of your passwords (worth thinking about if you were ever seriously ill)
Change the ‘recipe’ used to generate a password to meet the rules of a particular website
Store other information securely such as credit card numbers and passport details

But it boils down to this – using the password manager in your web browser is better than not using one at all, and using a password manager app is better and more secure for most people than using the one built into your web browser (albeit a little more work to set up and you have to pay for it).

About Cyber Coach

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Our training works because it is always live taught by a human, speaking to the camera or in person. No death by PowerPoint or dull animations here.

We’re Cyber Coach – our Security Awareness Training is surprisingly enjoyable, and cost effective.

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