Unless you are not living under a rock, you might have heard security professionals recommending various password managers. The reasons behind is that majority of people use weak passwords and reuse them at multiple websites. This makes them vulnerable to cyberattacks. But how are they supposed to use strong, unique passwords on every website and have access to them when needed? Well this is when password keeper comes handy.
Password management software are capable of solving both your problems; they can generate strong passwords and store them at one place so that you need not learn them all. Experts convey that the password keeper lives in our browser and behaves more or less like a gatekeeper. You ask how? Well, they enter passwords for you when you enter a certain website. All you have to do is memorize one master password and the rest will be taken care of easily. There are a plethora of service providers that have their products.
How Many Types of Password Managers Exist?
Software developers have taken different approaches to create password management software, that includes where it stores the data, how it’s secured and what additional features should be available for saving and retrieving account information.
There are various types of password management software available, a few of them are:
Bonus Feature within other software
Many a time, these come as an add-on feature along with OS, Browsers, and other applications. However, you are recommended to use this free password manager if and only if you’re cent percent sure about it. You definitely do not want all your passwords to be revealed, by choosing the wrong software right?
Standalone Password Manager
The very first version of password managers introduced were known as Standalone passwords. They do nothing else apart from storing and securing passwords. KeePass and Aurora are the best available examples of these. However, this kind of manager can only be trusted if nobody else uses the device that you do.
Web-Based Password Manager
These are the newest type of software available for securing your passwords which can be used from any device with stable internet connection. RoboForm and PasswordSafe are the best examples of this category.
Well, now that you are aware of the types of password management software available, possibly you may have selected one for yourself. But how will you transfer your passkeys to these?
How Passwords Should Be Transferred To Password Manager?
Once you’ve researched and found the best one according to your needs, you need to enter all your passwords so that you can take the burden off your head. But how should all this be done? Well, there are three ways, read further to know more!
Transfer Manually
The most tedious of all methods, you can enter passwords for the websites manually. There is no denying the fact that it will take time, but you’ll be satisfied that all the passwords you have entered are correct.
Import/Export
A few of the password keeper allow you to import or export passwords directly from the browsers. If you ask us, this is the best way to get started! No arduous task is involved. If you’re a Mac user, you have an option of Apple’s Keychain application as well. However, not every manager has this feature, so check this beforehand.
With Browsing
Are you one of those who doubt on the capabilities of password manager and are not willing to handover every password to the manager? If yes, then this method is the best one for you. Each time you visit any website and enter password, your manager will pop-up and ask whether you want to save it on manager. You can accept or deny as you prefer! However, if you are permanently logged in some of your accounts, you’ll have to log out from them and login again to upload your passwords.
These are the most trusted ways of transferring. Do you know more? Don’t forget to share!
Despite being recommended by experts, people cannot put their trust entirely on these software. What must be the reason behind this?
Why Password Managers Are Doubted?
There is no denying the fact that the password keepre are highly convenient, but they are housed with too many potential security risks. They exist in our system as a browser extension and in case you visit a website that is full of malware, then they become vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) or a Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attacks. When attacked, all your passwords will reach the hacker in no matter of time and you’ll become vulnerable like never before. You may wonder how this happens anyway? Well, password managers mainly have an auto-fill feature which automatically fills the login form previously saved credentials. As soon as this feature was unveiled, hackers tried to create a script that can track the auto-fill features so that they can steal the credentials without any hassle.
The worst part is once the passwords have been stolen, no one can help in securing them back. However, there is always an option of updating your credentials, but you can do the same only when you are aware of the attack!
The Final Verdict
You must be wondering whether you should use password managers or not! Well, the answer to this is a big yes, but use only the ones that are secure. In case you are using a password manager that’s properly updated, then you can be rest assured that you are safe. As these are strong enough to prevent brute force attacks, it is an added security layer.
We recommend that choose a password manager wisely otherwise your manager will become reason for compromising your privacy. Do not fall in trap of free password managers as most of the time they are just scams. We have tried to cover every important detail regarding password manager, in case we have left anything, don’t forget to mention it in the comments section below!
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