why use a password manager?

You will use several passwords a day for various purposes from unlocking your smartphone to logging in to you e-mail account or various websites. It takes a human being to keep all of them in mind. A good password is at least 12 characters long and includes upper- and lower-case letters, digits, and special characters. It is not a dictionary word, cannot be connected to you in any way, and is updated in at least every 90 days. How can you remember even just a few of them?

Many jot down their passwords in a notebook, which they think is safe. But it is not. Just think of it how much you will expose yourself if you lose that notebook. It is not practical, either, since you must carry your notebook everywhere you go. It is not a better solution when you collect your passwords in a text file.

The optimal solution, however, is a password manager. Password managers keep the passwords in an encrypted form, making your online presence more secure and comfortable. They even generate passwords that are complex and difficult to crack. Your only task is to memorise your so called ‘master password’. (It is also a good idea to memorise the login passwords of a few e-mail accounts you can use as a means of identification or password modification in case your password manager becomes unavailable. This way you can ensure that you do not lock yourself out of your own cyber existence.)

The master password must be thoroughly protected: if it gets disclosed to an unauthorised person, they will gain access to all your accounts, data, and identifiers. Password managers usually offer two-factor identification, a feature you should activate anyway, just as with any other user account. Password managers can be online or offline. Before your start to use any of them, check their features and level of security. Some programs come with the feature of logging you out automatically after some time of inactivity.

Protect yourself from online fraud. Be security-conscious.

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