What is a password manager? Here’s why you should be using one

The internet in 2021 will be a very different place than it was a decade ago. Gone are the days when you only visited a handful of websites, all neatly organized in your browser’s trusted bookmarks manager.

Nowadays, you are much more likely to visit dozens of unique websites within hours and, in many cases, sign up for a new account as well. According to several surveys, the average internet user has between 50 and 200 online accounts. The disadvantage? Most of us have at least one of these unknowingly compromised or injured in the past few years.

Password managers generally claim they protect our accounts and improve online security, but how effective are they really and should you bother?

What is a password manager?

Put simply, a password manager is an app or browser extension that generates a uniquely complex password for each of your online accounts. Your access data will then be saved in a “safe” and can be accessed using a single master password, which you should keep as secure as possible.

I know it’s hard not to be a little skeptical. When I first found out about password managers, I too was concerned that keeping all of my credentials in one place could be potentially dangerous. What if the password manager itself is somehow compromised?

However, after doing some research, I learned that pretty much every password manager uses zero-knowledge encryption. This means that no one can access your data without the vault’s master password, not even the tool’s developers or the companies that host your encrypted data.

Connected: What is encryption Here is everything you need to know

However, I was hesitant to switch to password managers for a much more personal reason: muscle memory. You know, if I just remembered a set or two of credentials, I could log into my accounts incredibly quickly. Password manager couldn’t be faster or more convenient, right?

Fortunately, I was wrong. Password managers automatically enter your login details for you, even on your mobile phone. This can also protect you from password-stealing viruses eavesdropping on your keystrokes.

What really forced me to adopt the password manager lifestyle in the end was to discover how many of my own accounts had already been compromised. According to Have I Been Pwned, my email has been involved in at least 14 data breaches over the years, including a well-documented MySpace password leak from the late 2000s.

Also read: My phone scared me to change my passwords

If you re-use passwords – as I admittedly did earlier – even a compromised account can doom for your online security, let alone 14. This is because in theory anyone can use your stolen or leaked credentials to log in to log in to other unbroken websites. This low-tech infiltration technique, known as “credential stuffing,” has proven incredibly effective in recent years.

And if you don’t think your password will be picked out, think again. Within hours of Disney Plus launching in November 2019, thousands of compromised accounts have been sold on public forums. Netflix and Spotify accounts have also fallen victim to credential stuffing.

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How to choose the right password manager

With this grim reality in mind, which password manager should you trust with your login credentials?

Well, almost every major web browser these days has basic password management features. In practice, however, if you use a lot of different devices, you will likely want something that is available on multiple platforms and is also browser independent. Dedicated password managers do just that, along with a few other features like the ability to share a login with your family members or colleagues.

Some premium services like Dashlane and LastPass can also automate the process of changing your password for you. However, this feature only works on a handful of websites so personally I never gave it much consideration.

See also: Dashlane vs LastPass: The Ultimate Password Manager Showdown

In addition, such additional functions are usually locked behind a monthly subscription. Dashlane charges a whopping $ 4 a month, while Lastpass is just a little more modest at $ 3. It’s worth noting that you also need these premium tiers for unlimited syncing across devices. This can be frustrating as you end up paying for frivolous features (like a full blown VPN in Dashlane’s case) even if you don’t want to use them.

If you’re just looking for a sturdy password vault and nothing else, consider open source options like Bitwarden or KeePass. As community-led projects, both offer generous (and usable) free allotments and have been extensively reviewed by the developer community. Hosting them yourself is also an option for the privacy conscious among us.

As with many open source tools, their development can sometimes be a little slow compared to the competition. Still, I’m more than willing to sacrifice privacy and stability features.

Beyond password management

With these measures, you can rest assured that no single hack has the potential to compromise your entire digital identity. If you care as much about a good night’s sleep as I do, the utility of password managers in 2021 is easy to see.