It’s the beginning of 2022, and now is an excellent time to improve your privacy and security measures. One of the more essential aspects of your security is updating and securely saving your passwords to access all the online services you use, as well as your offline password, such as your computer password. In the […]
It’s the beginning of 2022, and now is an excellent time to improve your privacy and security measures. One of the more essential aspects of your security is updating and securely saving your passwords to access all the online services you use, as well as your offline password, such as your computer password.
In the last decade, the use of online services has increased dramatically; they are more convenient for various reasons (minimum maintenance, less overhead, easy to escalate, etc.). Since many have switched to this model or have mixed-mode (online and offline software and tools) usage, maintaining the safety of your login credentials is crucial.
Today, we can manage our credentials in different ways:
There are other methods, but these are the main three options supported by popular online services. While the three are valid, there are pros and cons of using one method over the other. We will focus our attention on the first option: using a password manager.
A password manager is a software tool (online or offline) that can save the login credentials of different tools and services. Most of these tools will use a master password that will grant you access to the list of your saved credentials.
The main feature is, of course, saving your credentials, so you can remember them when you need to access your service; however, there are other reasons why this is convenient. Password managers:
There are other interesting features of password managers, like cross-checking your password with hacked DBs of passwords or account form fillers (general account information, credit card, etc.). It all depends on your requirements and preferences.
Even though there are many benefits to using a password manager, that doesn’t mean it’s without risk. These are some of the more relevant ones.
After reviewing what a password manager is and the benefits and risks, the convenience of using one is often found to outweigh the cons. You have two options: an online password manager or an offline password manager.
Many popular online services have a great feature set and strong security reputations. If you want to go that route, you can use the likes of 1Password, LastPass, or Dashlane, among others.
If you want to focus on security, the fact that your passwords are only available to you and not saved in external services is essential. In that case, I recommend an Offline Password Manager.
The industry preference has been KeePass, but there are many other options like KeePass variants, Safe In Cloud, or even tools provided by antivirus services.
No matter what option you choose, keep a record of your login credentials.
Review your options and choose the one that best suits your needs. There is no perfect tool for everyone, but there is a suitable tool for each use case.
Web browsers include password management functionalities in their engine; however, it’s important to use other options dedicated to keeping your information safe.
Though this may seem like obvious and oft-repeated advice, it is important to distinguish your accounts with different usernames and passwords; doing so will help preserve your online security.
Article written by Daniel Alarcon
