Catch Of The Week: Password Managers

Submitted by Carol A. Clark
on October 16, 2021
- 9:10 am

By BECKY RUTHERFORD
Los Alamos

October is cyber security awareness month – what’s one thing you can do right now to make yourself more cyber safe? Toss your computer in the canyon and move to a cabin in the woods? Probably not the most practical solution. Consider getting a password manager!

Password managers are an easy, affordable way to secure yourself online.

What is a password manager? It’s a software application, usually cloud-based that stores all your passwords in one place, usually encrypted. Most password managers can also generate random, complex passwords for you.

Why do you need this? Well, back in the early days of the internet, you might have been able to make do with a handful of passwords and possible variations on those passwords. But in today’s world, everything is online, and if you are using the same password for lots of websites, you might be in for a nasty surprise if it gets compromised.

Let’s say that you use the same password for your school account, your bank account, your social media accounts, and your gaming accounts. If the password is breached in one place, it can easily be breached everywhere you use it. There are ways to automate the process and find every place your email has been used to create an account and then test to see if that password works with it. Never reuse the same password! Data breaches happen all the time, and if it gets breached in one place, anywhere else, you use it can easily be compromised.

The best thing about password managers is that they are also password generators. Do you think you could come up with a unique, complex password for every website you need to log in to? Probably not. Password managers will create a strong and unique password for every site you need to log in to and save it. Much easier than trying to do it yourself.

Why do passwords need to be unique and complex? Because cybercriminals can use tools called password crackers to guess your passwords.

You might be wondering if storing all your passwords in one site is secure. You will generally access your password manager via a master password, and I recommend protecting your account with two-factor authentication (2FA) as well. What is 2FA? 2FA lets you protect an account with an additional factor of authentication, like an authenticator app or your phone number, in addition to the password. If you don’t use 2FA and someone gets your password, chances are your account is compromised. If you use 2FA and someone compromises your password, they won’t be able to access your account without that second authentication factor.

Usually, this is a unique code texted to you or a code that you generate via an authentication app like Google Authenticator.

There are a lot of choices out there; which one is best? It depends on your needs and budget. I recommend checking tech sites like ZDNet and Cnet for password manager reviews. I’ve been using LastPass for about three years, and I’ve been pleased with it. There are many other options out there. There are free options, but most password managers will run you about $40 a year. When you consider what a pain a compromised password is and how much that can cost you, it pays for itself in the long run.

The big takeaway here – use complex and unique passwords for all your online accounts. Use a password manager to keep track of and protect these passwords. And always use 2FA whenever you can! This is the best way to secure your online accounts and stay safe online.

In closing, let’s take a look at the 10 most common passwords of 2020, according to NordPass’s most common passwords list: