Secure your digital life for FREE and never have to reset forgotten passwords
Let’s play a little game. See if you can guess what I am from these hints:
- I have hundreds of passwords
- No two passwords of mine are the same
- All my passwords are strong and randomly generated
- None of my passwords are written on stickies or kept in spreadsheets
What am I?
A password manager — your new Digital BFF!
(sorry Alexa, Siri, Cortana)
One of the best decisions I made to increase my digital security in an age of cyber attacks was to start using a password manager. A password manager securely keeps your usernames and passwords in one place and makes them easy to retrieve whenever you need to log in to something.
Before password managers, I had a few really strong passwords that I used on multiple websites. While strong passwords are great, using one password for all your websites is like giving a hacker the master key to your digital life.
The best practice for creating secure passwords is to generate them randomly from several numbers, characters, and symbols, like these:
- yNx$9c@Fb3hA
- IV8e^Gq0#ctP
According to this website it would take 34,000 years to crack those! Whether that’s true or not, security through obscurity demotivates hackers. Kind of like a sign that says “beware of dog” or “protected by alarm system”.
In other words, the harder you can make things on a hacker the faster they will move on to an easier target.
Ready to get started with a password manager?
You might have used a password manager and not realized it. Most modern web browsers automatically offer to save passwords, credit cards, and address & phone information. This feature can be handy though it limits you to using that one specific browser to retrieve that information later.
Because I use many devices and browsers in my software and web design consultancy, I went one step further than the browser’s built-in password manager and signed up for a program called LastPass — it’s FREE and has affordable paid premium features for $12/year.
Check out how LastPass ranks among other password managers.
One of the things I love about LastPass is that it works on all devices and all browsers. I pay the very reasonable $12/year to be able to access LastPass from my iPhone where I can use my thumbprint with touchID to unlock my LastPass vault. This biometric input effectively acts as the “Master Password” that keeps everything in my password vault safe and secure.
If your device or computer does not have a biometric sensor you will need to type in your master password. Your master password should be random (like the two earlier examples) and as strong as possible.
DO NOT make your master password an easy password. If someone gets ahold of it, they will literally possess the key to your digital kingdom.
See Article for ideas on how to memorize a strong password.
Most good password managers allow you to enable 2-factor authentication which usually comes in the form of a code sent to you via text message when you log into an app or website. This helps in the case someone steals your master password, we’re hoping they didn’t also steal your phone.
One other nice feature of LastPass is that it lets me collaborate with my team, partners, and clients by securely sharing passwords via a revokable invitation. LastPass also makes it easy to securely store non-password information such as credit cards and other personal data that you use to fill out forms, check out online, etc.
The only major negative I’ve come across with password managers like LastPass is that the initial setup can be cumbersome and not all websites make it easy to save new or updated passwords without extra clicks.
So, how long does it take to set up a password manager?
I now have over 200 passwords stored in my password manager, though the easiest way is to add accounts during normal usage of the apps and websites you log into regularly. Eventually, you’ll have covered all the services you use and develop a good habit for creating secure passwords and storing them in your password manager.
Even though initial setup is a nuisance, the benefits of increased security and not having to keep up with passwords in your head far outweighs being a victim to cyber crime.
Now that I have increased peace of mind and save hours each month by not having to reset or mistype passwords I’m right on track to:
Get work done and go home happy!
Side Note: I now have extra room in my head for my secret Thai Coconut Curry Chicken Soup recipe. Mm mmm!
(though maybe I should save it in LastPass as a secure note file just in case 😁 )
