What is a Password Manager ?
It’s a tool that you use to Store, Create and Manage Passwords across your accounts and multiple devices.
How do they Work ?
On a browser , you will install a plugin to the browser that will prefill the passwords for you , when you are logged into the Password Manager.
They are also available as apps across most smartphones and tablets, where you will be able to copy the password from your Password App and use in a mobile browser or app. There is usually a time limit on the app version , which will delete the password from your clipboard after a minute or so.
Why do you need one ?
- It’s hard to keep track of all your passwords
- Re-using passwords is not a good idea ( but we do it because of the aforementioned point re how hard it is to keep track)
- They can randomise passwords ( ie you only need to remember 1 password and all the others are random anyway)
- You will never need to reset a forgotten password again ( provided you haven’t lost the login or saved the wrong password to start with)
My top 2 recommendations :
Mac users – 1Password , which has a much slicker UI and works better on Mac than LastPass.
Windows users : LastPass works well across windows environments, also has a decent app for the iPhone and iPad – the Mac experience is a bit clunky