Why it is important to have a good password manager

There are more and more online accounts on different platforms and the passwords used are often weak and easy for hackers to break Digital Marketing Consultant, tells us about the importance of having a manager who protects our passwords.

Cybersecurity continually adapts in response to evolving cyber threats, both for consumer computing and the most advanced technology companies. In the early 1990s, for example, it was common to use a PC without even installing an antivirus to protect it against possible malware. Only as those PCs began to connect to the Internet did it become clear that it was necessary to keep malware at bay with an antivirus, to the point that it is now almost unthinkable to use a computer without this type of protection.

In the same way, the password manager has become one of the most important digital protection tools in 2022. And once again the reason lies in the evolution that both computing and our internet habits have experienced.

Increase in online accounts

It is obvious that we are using more and more online accounts, but what most people do not know is to what extent we tend to open more and more accounts on the Internet, often only to disregard them after a few days.

Virtually any online platform that offers us some kind of digital service asks us to register. This includes e-commerce stores, news platforms, streaming services, social networks, airlines, educational centers and much more. Registration is encouraged because for these platforms it is an excellent way of having information about their users, which in turn allows them to communicate with them to encourage their loyalty and their involvement with their companies.

But for users these registrations do not necessarily translate into an advantage. Although on some occasions it is essential, in many other cases these accounts simply represent one more platform that has access to our private data and for which we must create a password and, in many cases, this password ends up being too weak.

Passwords only work if they are strong and 100% unique

If you don't like the prospect of a hacker breaching your Amazon account and draining your credit card, then it's important that you protect this account with a totally secure and un hackable password. For this, the password must be random and not refer to any term that may be related to you. Family names, specific dates, telephone numbers or articalal addresses must be completely excluded from passwords because this information is easily accessible to hackers.

It is impossible to remember 80 or 100 random passwords for as many digital accounts, to which we must add all the new passwords that we will create over the next few years for the new platforms on which we will register. But what we can do is use cybersecurity tools such as password managers so that they take care of remembering them for us.

How to choose a password manager?

The question then is not whether or not you should use a password manager, but how to choose the most robust one to protect your accounts. Some of the aspects that you should keep in mind in this regard are the following:

• You must store your passwords on your devices, not on a server. Some password managers store your passwords on a server outside of your devices. This is just what some browsers like Chrome or Firefox do, but it is precisely this that makes them vulnerable. Only password managers that store the keys on your devices can guarantee their full privacy.

• Must be from a reputable company. You wouldn't give your house keys to a stranger, so why give your account passwords to a company you don't trust? The need to use a password manager has caused many companies to appear out of nowhere to offer this type of service, but many of these companies are quite dubious.

• Must have strong encryption. The security of a password manager largely depends on its ability to encrypt your passwords so that only you can access them. It doesn't make much sense, then, to use a password manager whose encryption is weak.

• Must work on different devices. No one connects to the internet from a single device. Surely you alternate between your computer and your smartphone, and perhaps you also have a tablet or a Smart TV. Make sure you hire the services of a password manager that works on all of them.