You need a password manager
You can’t remember every password for every service and tool you use—that’d be unrealistic. If you can, that means your passwords are too short, easy to remember, or are all the same. It’s a blatant vulnerability that any thief could capitalize on.
You might be tempted instead to use your browser’s keychain feature, but, despite how convenient it is, threat actors can easily steal your collection of passwords if you keep them there. All it would take is one compromised password, and with data breaches rising by 13% in 2022, it’s not impossible for a criminal to find yours.
So, if you can’t use the browser keychain without imposing a risk on your cyber safety, what can you use to remember all your passwords? There are a few options, ranging from carrying security keys to even writing passwords down in a notebook. However, we recommend one option that’s encrypted, easy to access, and doesn’t physically take up space.
A password manager.
What’s a password manager?
A password manager stores and manages all your password information in a heavily encrypted database, stored securely behind a master password. You’d only have to remember one password instead of all of them!
Some password managers can even generate complex passwords for you using a computer-generated randomizer, saving you the time and frustration of picking your brain for a new one.
There are a variety of password organizers geared toward both professional and personal audiences. However, with our thorough research and cybersecurity expertise, we’ve determined three that stand out to us the most for personal use. Any one of them can protect you depending on your needs; remember, cybersecurity is never a one-size-fits-all solution.
Zoho Vault
If you’re looking for a password manager that can keep both personal and work passwords all together, we recommend using Zoho Vault. For personal security, Zoho Vault offers a completely free password manager program that has:
- Stored and encrypted passwords
- Unlimited passwords
- Password autofill
- Accessibility from mobile and desktop devices
- Unlimited devices & sync capabilities
- Online and offline access
- One-to-many sharing
- Password generator
- Password activity reports
- MFA (multifactor authentication)
- Tech support
Zoho Vault has been highly acclaimed across the board from experts like PCMag.com and ITProPortal, and for good reason. Your work and personal passwords are safe, there’s no required cost, and you can access your passwords as needed from anywhere as long as you have the master password.
If you’re new to password management, Zoho Vault is an excellent first choice.
Keeper
Keeper Password Manager & Digital Vault is a solid, straightforward password manager that is unique for its cross-device custom field feature. If you are tired of manually inputting information like credit cards and drivers’ license numbers, the custom field feature stores and autofills whatever information you want to set up on both desktop and mobile, making it a powerful personal security tool.
In addition, Keeper also has:
- Unlimited passwords
- Fingerprint & facial ID login
- Accessibility from mobile and desktop devices
- One-to-many sharing
- 24/7 online tech support
- Family plans (at an additional cost)
- Custom field creation
Keeper is a paid service but is perfectly affordable, averaging only $1.74 per month. If you’re often bogged down by having to manually input the same information over and over, Keeper is a great option for personal password management.
Last Pass (Premium)
If you have a bigger budget for a password manager and are looking for a safe database to encrypt sensitive files such as government documents and IDs, we recommend Last Pass Premium. Last Pass is known for its user-friendly interface and top-of-the-line safety features, such as dark web monitoring and password-strength reports. LastPass is a powerful, thorough password manager all around.
Last Pass Premium has:
- Unlimited passwords
- Password autofill
- MFA (multifactor authentication)
- Password generator
- Accessibility from mobile and desktop devices
- One-to-many sharing
- 1 GB encrypted file storage
- Security dashboard
- Dark web monitoring
- Priority tech support
Last Pass also offers a free plan, but we don’t recommend it because you’ll lose the ability to access your passwords from any device; it all stays on one, which isn’t useful if you’re not home and need to check your email. Regardless, Last Pass Premium has an affordable price estimating at $3.00 per month.
Having a password manager is a good way to organize all your login information without sacrificing the strength of your passwords. However, there are plenty of practices you should adopt as we adapt to an internet-savvy lifestyle to keep your identity safe.Want to learn more about how to protect yourself—even off the clock—from threat actors? Check our blog for more valuable cybersecurity tips.