Password managers seem like a good innovation for a decade ago. Then, remembering passwords for a growing list of accounts was almost impossible without storing them somewhere. These days, however, passwords are stored by most browsers, in a system that is quite secure. Furthermore, if you forget your password, it’s not difficult to get a reminder email.
So, if you’re using Google Chrome to store your passwords in any case, is there any reason you need a password manager?
The thing is, password managers are no longer simple storage units for a long list of passwords. They have many more benefits that make them much more useful than a notebook with a lock.
There are some really excellent password managers, like LastPass and Dashlane, which are compared on Best Online Reviews. Here are some of the hidden benefits of a good password manager.
Choose Strong Passwords
Creating passwords is not an easy task. Using upper and lowercase letters, special characters, numbers, and so on, has you racking your brains for anything that has a semblance of a system.
More importantly, these requirements don’t do much to protect your password. P@$sw0rd! is not at all secure, and can be cracked fairly quickly. Longer passwords, even without the bells and whistles, are far more effective.
Password managers create passwords for you, that you never have to remember or even know in the first place. They're long, complex, and much more difficult to crack than anything you could have created on your own.
And for this reason…
Change Passwords Regularly
Any password can be cracked with time. Sometimes companies accidentally leak our passwords, and then our careful work is for nought. Which is why it’s so important to change your passwords regularly. If you change your passwords, they will not be cracked, and if you’ve been compromised by a leak, you'll have bolstered your security before your data is necessarily compromised.
This comes with a caveat. If you're changing your passwords manually, you might be making them less secure, as the process becomes more and more tedious. And, if you have a strong password in the first place, a change every six months is generally good enough.
No one has the patience to change all their passwords regularly, because it’s such an arduous process. Password managers make this simple, ensuring that your login details are actually secure. When you hear about a breach of any site you have registered on, you can quickly change that password without too much stress.
A password manager is definitely not obsolete in an age in which we need more and more passwords for an ever-growing list of accounts. The more we sign up to, the more likely we are to compromise ourselves. And in many cases, you could be compromising your entire identity.
There are a number of good password managers out there, like 1Password, Dashlane, and Keeper. Most of them have a free trial, so you can get the hang of it before committing money to it. Make sure that whichever you choose has a good reputation and all the features that make password managers worthwhile.