By Evan Lane
If you, like half of the people in one of my classes, use the same password for multiple websites, chances are you’d be in a lot of trouble if one of those websites got hacked or accidentally stored your passwords in plaintext on a cloud platform open to the public. Here’s Looking at you Facebook.
As a digital citizen in 2019, it’s essential to be safe while browsing the Internet. Passwords are the baseline for protecting your accounts and data. You may be asking yourself how I expect you to keep track of the hundreds of passwords for all the different services you have signed up to over the years. I mean, we aren’t even expected to remember phone numbers these days. Thanks, Cellphones!
I present to you the invention of Password Managers. They are (another) web service, or an application you can install on your computer. They encrypt and store your passwords, so you can access them when you need them. Most even have the option to help you create new secure passwords when you are signing up for something new. With a Password Manager, you do still have to remember a single password to get access to all your other passwords. That isn’t much different from what some people are doing now.
Some Password Managers to check out:
– LastPass – https://www.lastpass.com/solutions/business-password-manager
– Dashlane – https://www.dashlane.com/features/password-manager
– Keeper Security – https://keepersecurity.com/
– RoboForm – https://www.roboform.com/
– KeePass Password Safe – https://keepass.info/
– Sticky Password – https://www.stickypassword.com/
– Firefox Lockwise – https://lockwise.firefox.com/
– PasswordSafe – https://pwsafe.org/
Some general password tips:
– Passwords should be more like Passphrases these days. The longer they are, the harder they are to break.
– Throw some special characters and/or numbers in to replace letters in your passphrase.
Using one password across the web can leave you vulnerable on all platforms.
Using a Password Manager allows you to keep using the “one password†method, although this way you use it to access all your other passwords. An added side bonus to having unique passwords for everything is that you also get a list of everything you are signed up to currently. With more and more hacks occurring and a higher value on personal data, I think it’s important everyone is aware of some of the basic tools they can use to better protect themselves and their digital identity. There are loads more ways to protect yourself online too.