Why use a password manager? : Keeping your password safe

The use of a tried and trusted, secure and safe password manager such as LastPass or Keeper in the current era, when cyber security and hacking is such an issue, is a huge benefit to not only organisations but individuals as well.

The main and original point of having a password manager in place was to keep all of your usernames and passwords in one location, but to also keep usernames and passwords safe so others cannot access them. The ways of securing this valuable and confidential private information has progressed greatly over the years and has now developed to a stage where having not only a password to access the account, but you must also be accessing your account from a certain location as IP allowances and restrictions are now incorporated on password manager software applications.

By adding login credentials to your account, autofill will start to take place when you visit the websites you access and login is automatically available. One of the benefits being that it saves the user the time taken to remember which password they’ve used for that particular website, or the time it takes to copy the password from a separate ‘secure’ document to their account login.

With regards to the password which a user sets for different websites, the ability to auto generate passwords for websites stops duplicate passwords being used by users. Having the same password for all of your logins is not a safe way to manage websites; imagine that you’re a hacker, that same password you used to access one account will be the first one you would try for another account. With the functionality of a password generator and the autofill ability, as a user you may never even see what the passwords for accounts are, the process will be that streamlined and secure.

Password manager apps also allow you to store multiple login credentials for the same websites. This is extremely handy functionality to have if you manage a website, built on a content management system (CMS), with different login details for different employees, as it allows you to easily select which account you wish to sign in using, allowing all passwords to be kept on a password manager, allowing each user to have their credentials saved.

Passwords are not the only credentials which can be saved on your password security system, you can also save other private information such as credit card numbers, pin numbers and security codes (CCV or CVV2). This again, is such a handy ability to have from your secure and safe password manager as it stops the need to always have cards with you when you don’t need them. For portability and to make sure you have access to your password manager when you need it, you are also able to get password management apps on your mobile devices whether they be phones or tablets. This does come in particularly handy for card information as you don’t need to continuously have your card on show while completing a transaction, you are just able to fill in the card details already stored on the password manager.

The ability to share folders in your password manager with another user is also a great feature. If you need to share information or documents with 3rd parties such as clients or suppliers, you are able to attach files which can only be access in a folder shared with that user who needs their own separate password to have access to. This saves the need for important document to be sent via email when internet security can be such a hazard.

In my opinion password managers are a moot point (or a ‘moo point’ for ‘Friends’ watchers) if you don’t use them for all of your passwords etc. If you still decide not to have passwords on there for whatever reason there really is no answer for you. If the system is there and the correct security features are in place, there is no reason not to use it because it will help with your day to day running of your business or personal logins and most importantly will keep you and your private confidential information safe and secure.

So what is the best password manager? There are many out there which offer the same features, finding the best one for you is key. LastPass for me is one which I’ve found reliable and always secure due to the features it provides.