TechBytes: How can Password Managers help me & my business?

Why are Password Managers an important part of your Cyber Security? 

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If you are anything like me, I have more than 400 different online accounts that I have…. accumulated over the years. However, on average most people will some somewhere in the region of about 100 accounts. 

It is best practice to never re-use your passwords. To find out more about this see our article on Password Security. 

But when your have more than 100 online accounts, with different passwords for each, how do you keep track of them all? Password Managers are one of the best ways to be able to keep track of all of your online accounts, but they can do a whole lot more than that. 

Why should you use a Password Manager?  

Gone are the days when you could write down your passwords in a note book or in the notes of your phone. If you have more than a hundred accounts, with different passwords for most, if not all of them. Then it is important that you store these securely where they can be easily accessed. 

Especially as many accounts online will give you a limited number of times to type in a password before your account is temporarily or permanently locked, and if you have more than 100 different passwords… that is a lot to remember for only a few guesses.  

In this case, Password Managers become your memory, storing all of your passwords in a single place for you to refer to. 

What else can Password Managers do?  

Password Managers can store more than just passwords. They can store WiFi connection details, bank card details, secure notes, documents, pictures and many other things. 

Password managers such as 1Password and MyGlue are also able to integrate Two Factor Authentication details so that you only have one place to refer to for your password and authentication codes. 

Meaning that you do not have to install a second app to include authentication details inside. This is also more convenient than if you were to have a second app on your phone dedicated to this. 

If you were to only use an authenticator app then that would mean that you would need to have your phone with you and charged at all times to be able to retrieve a verification code to log in to your accounts. Which for some may not be an issue. However, with applications such as 1Password or MyGlue, then as long as you can log into your account from a Desktop, Mobile, Tablet or the Web then you can access all of your account details and Authentication codes at any time. 

If you want to find out more about Two Factor Authentication, please check out our article and video about Two Factor Authentication and why it is important. 

However, not all password managers offer this feature, so be sure to check carefully before settling on which service you want to use. As whilst services such as 1Password and MyGlue among others offer Two Factor Authentication within their Password Management Apps, other password managers instead offer a separate Authenticator App which still requires you to use your phone. And others only offer Two Factor Authentication integration at higher price tiers. 

How secure are Password Managers?  

Some password managers are only as secure as the master password that you set on them. However, many of them also offer second, or even third stages, of verification. 

Password Managers such as LastPass require an email address and master password at minimum to access your account. However, they also have the ability to ask for an authenticator password from an authenticator app or SMS verification too, giving a second step of verification. 

Other Password Managers such as 1Password also require a more than 30 character security key as well as the email and password and also offer the ability to unlock with an authentication code on top of this. Meaning that your password vaults are behind 3 different forms of security. 

On mobile and tablet, and even some desktops, these password managers also give the ability to be able to access your data with biometric information such as fingerprint reader or facial recognition. 

It is highly recommended that you secure your passwords behind a highly complex secure password that only you know, and that you will never use anywhere else. 

Passwords stored in password managers such as these are also secured behind 256-bit AES encryption. Meaning that only a person with the exact correct login and decryption credentials can access this information. 

Meaning that you do not have to install a second app to include authentication details inside. This is also more convenient than if you were to have a second app on your phone dedicated to this. 

If you were to only use an authenticator app then that would mean that you would need to have your phone with you and charged at all times to be able to retrieve a verification code to log in to your accounts. Which for some may not be an issue. However, with applications such as 1Password or MyGlue, then as long as you can log into your account from a Desktop, Mobile, Tablet or the Web then you can access all of your account details and Authentication codes at any time. 

If you want to find out more about Two Factor Authentication, please check out our article and video about Two Factor Authentication and why it is important. 

However, not all password managers offer this feature, so be sure to check carefully before settling on which service you want to use. As whilst services such as 1Password and MyGlue among others offer Two Factor Authentication within their Password Management Apps, other password managers instead offer a separate Authenticator App which still requires you to use your phone. And others only offer Two Factor Authentication integration at higher price tiers. 

Extra Features  

As previously mentioned, many password managers such as MyGlue, 1Password and LastPass also offer extra features on top of just being a Password Manager. 

They can store secure notes, card details, wifi credentials, files, photos and more. As well as this though, many providers also offer family plans where between 4 and 6 members of your family can also take advantage of their own password manager account and you can also create shared vaults within those to share your passwords with either all of your family members, or just between you and individual members of your family. 

For example, if you wanted to share passwords for your Netflix with only your partner you can do. Or you may want to share your WiFi password details with all of your family for when they visit, you can do that too. 

And for added security, you can also ask Password Managers to generate unique complex secure passwords for you for every new account you create. 

For our business customers we recommend a service called MyGlue as it links directly with our internal systems allowing us to manage and share details directly with our customers. 

Dark Web Monitoring 

But managing your passwords is only the start. One thing that we do advise is to also look dark web monitoring. Our Active Dark Web Monitoring service to ensures that none of your accounts are compromised. 

If any of your account details do get leaked on to the dark web as the result of hacking or a database breach then you will be given alerts as soon as they are noticed and we can work with you to reset and secure your accounts. 

For a free one off dark web scan for your business, fill out the form below and visit our Dark Web Monitoring page to find out more about how this can help keep your business accounts secure.