It’s not news that secure passwords are the number one end-user security measure you can take to ensure you are safe online. Surely by now you’ve heard how dangerous it is to use the same password for every account you have — but remembering multiple strong passwords is very difficult. How many times have you seen the “incorrect password” message when trying to log into one of your frequented (or more likely on your not-so-frequented) sites?
The natural thing to do would be to keep a list of your passwords somewhere that you can reference. But there are a few problems with this method. If this list is housed on a piece of paper or locally on your computer, it can easily be lost, damaged, or accidentally deleted. If this list is housed in an un-encrypted online or cloud location, it can be accessed and compromised. Therefore, the safest and easiest option for keeping track of a list of secure passwords is a password manager.
A password manager is a software application that primarily does two things. First, it securely and automatically generates strong passwords for you so that you don’t have to come up with long, complicated passwords on your own every time you create a new account. Secondly, it securely stores all of these passwords for you in a single vault, so that in order to access and use all of your passwords, you only have to remember one master password.
At Enable, we strongly recommend using a password manager for all of your online accounts for two main reasons:
- It makes your life so much easier! Once you set up your own password manager, you never have to remember multiple passwords again – you only have to remember ONE!
- Extra security. Having long, encrypted passwords is exponentially more secure than using the same password (or even a few different ones) for all of your devices/sites. There has never been a more important time in cyber history to make sure your online activities and devices are as secure as they can be.
For some perspective, we want to share this interesting visual with you on password hack-ability.
Image sourced from Hive Systems
The fact of the matter is, for someone to be able to remember a new “green” password for every single one of their accounts (email, streaming services, social media platforms, work software, etc.) they would have to be incredibly intelligent or have way too much time on their hands. And let’s face it — you have way more important things to do with your brain and your time! Therefore, take advantage of this tool that makes your life easier and provides you with extra security online.