For the 2025 Specops Weak Password Report, researchers analyzed round 1.089 billion stolen passwords and located that probably the most generally breached passwords consisted of eight characters.
Alarmingly, out of the one billion compromised passwords, virtually 230 million could be thought of complicated. This implies they’d a minimal of eight characters, a capital letter, a quantity, and a particular character.
This reveals how superior hacking methods have turn into lately, reinforcing the necessity for a safe and dependable password administration service.
Password managers are designed to get rid of weak passwords and make it a lot more durable for attackers to compromise credentials. On this article, we focus on 5 the reason why you need to use a password supervisor.
What’s a password supervisor?
A password supervisor is software program that shops passwords, usernames, and different login info in an encrypted vault. They are often hosted on the cloud or on-prem and may cater to each particular person customers and organizations alike.
Examples of password supervisor suppliers embrace Bitwarden, 1Password, Keeper, Dashlane, LastPass, and NordPass. For a extra detailed information, take a look at our full Password Supervisor Cheat Sheet that dives into password managers in-depth.
Whereas this all sounds neat and nifty, it’s possible you’ll be asking, “Why not simply use the trusty pen and paper?” to retailer all of your passwords.
Nicely, listed here are 5 the reason why a password supervisor is certainly price contemplating.
5 the reason why you want a password supervisor
1. Your passwords are too easy
That is the most important motive, bar none. When you’re utilizing passwords that you would be able to simply keep in mind (corresponding to password, password123, happyhappyjoyjoy, and many others.), you’re in danger. Why? Easy passwords are simpler to crack. With the proper instruments (and sufficient horsepower), a hacker can crack these easy passwords in seconds or minutes. Due to this, you need to guarantee that the passwords you employ are laborious (if not inconceivable) to recollect.
A great rule of thumb is that if you happen to can simply keep in mind a password, it’s most likely straightforward to crack. The more durable that password is to recollect, the more durable it’s to crack. So whenever you use such troublesome passwords, you want a vault to deal with them. That’s the place a password supervisor comes into play.
2. Password managers embrace random password turbines
Talking of sophisticated passwords, you shouldn’t attempt to provide you with sophisticated passwords by yourself, otherwise you’ll wind up with variations in your standard theme. As an alternative, you want a password supervisor that features a random password generator to create very sophisticated passwords. Most password managers, corresponding to Bitwarden, assist you to configure how sophisticated the password is. With these instruments, you may generate passwords which might be 20 random characters lengthy and even unpronounceable, random phrases. Make use of those instruments, and your passwords might be very sophisticated and, due to this fact, robust.
3. You solely want to recollect one password
With a password supervisor, you solely want to recollect one password — the one used to achieve entry to your saved passwords. That is known as the Grasp Password.
With this in place, you don’t have to fret about remembering all these new and extremely complicated passwords generated by the supervisor. Open the managing instrument, kind your Grasp Password and find the password you want. The one caveat to that is to verify your vault password isn’t easy. It doesn’t must be overly complicated, simply not apparent.
4. The numbers are towards you
What number of accounts do you have got which require a password? Tens? A whole lot? The extra accounts you have got, the extra doubtless it’s that the numbers are towards you. Due to this, you most likely use the identical password for every little thing, which is a HUGE no no. It’s essential to use completely different passwords for each account. With that many various passwords, how are you going to recollect them? You’re not (particularly if these passwords are sophisticated). That’s one other massive motive to make use of a password supervisor.
That’s one other massive motive to make use of a password supervisor, as these instruments are designed to retailer a whole bunch of passwords and logins with ease. Keep in mind motive 3? Just one password requires remembering!
5. Passwords will at all times be on the prepared with machine syncing
Some password managers assist you to sync your password database throughout all your units. With this function, you may entry your passwords in your desktop, your laptop computer, and your cellular units. This fashion, you at all times have your passwords at hand. When you choose to make use of this function, be sure to have your password database encrypted with a robust password. The very last thing you want is for a nasty actor to intercept your database and crack it by way of brute power.
Bonus motive: It’s the clever factor to do
Sure, utilizing a password supervisor does add a step or two to the log-in course of. However when your information and safety are in danger, these additional steps are price it. With every passing day you proceed relying on these easy passwords, you run the danger of information theft. Be clever and use a password supervisor … earlier than it’s too late.
When you’re curious to be taught extra about password managers, I extremely advocate trying out our Password Managers 101 video function on the official TechRepublic YouTube channel.
In that video, we dive into how password managers work, who they’re for, and what concrete advantages they supply companies and people.
SEE: IT Chief’s Information to Cybersecurity Consciousness Coaching (TechRepublic Premium)
Selecting a password supervisor for your online business
Password managers present robust, random passwords which might be completely different for each web site or service. In contrast to eight-character passwords that may be cracked by way of brute power briefly order, these passwords are unguessable by any identified know-how. However as current hacks of password managers made clear, the know-how isn’t infallible. Listed below are a number of tips that could information the choice on which suppliers to favor:
Respected vendor
Don’t use a startup primarily based in areas the place there could also be an absence of policing of on-line habits. Search for distributors often featured in analyst stories from the likes of Gartner, IDC, and different well-known analyst corporations.
Cloud versus on-premise
Instruments that retailer passwords within the cloud are extra prone to assault. Favor those who retailer them domestically in your machine, particularly if your online business is primarily onsite.
However, cloud-based password managers can work higher for hybrid workforces, because it makes credentials simply accessible to distant staff as properly. I counsel taking a look at which system works greatest on your explicit enterprise.
Security measures
Some password managers have higher safety safeguards than others. These utilizing a device-based password supervisor, for instance, ought to guarantee it might mechanically lock after a really brief time of inactivity. Moreover, select instruments the place multifactor authentication, corresponding to receiving a textual content to your telephone, is required to unlock the password supervisor. In any other case, a keylogger might simply be utilized by a hacker to compromise the machine. And demand encryption of saved passwords, logon names, URLs, and different delicate information from a potential vendor.
Patch hygiene
Like several software program or system, password managers include bugs, and software program vulnerabilities are generally found. These bugs and vulnerabilities could be exploited by attackers to achieve entry, generally even after they’re locked. Some distributors present patches and depart it as much as the group to put in them. Others deploy them mechanically in order that they’re at all times updated. Test into the patch hygiene practices of vendor candidates to see who demonstrates probably the most accountable angle towards the patching of password managers. Equally, bear in mind that password managers make use of browser extensions and interface with different techniques. Confirm that your vendor of alternative additionally pays consideration to patching these.
Value
Some password managers are less expensive than others. However sometimes, the low-cost merchandise lack lots of the enterprise and security measures wanted by many organizations. Costs sometimes vary from $2 to $5 per thirty days per consumer. Bigger organizations can benefit from extra reductions for quantity purchases.
Advisable password managers
NordPass
If the title is acquainted, it’s as a result of NordPass comes from the creators of the favored NordVPN service. NordPass is greatest for customers seeking to have an all-around password administration system. It has robust safety, an intuitive desktop and cellular utility, and user-friendly pricing. It additionally makes use of the future-proof, XChaCha20 encryption algorithm to make consumer vaults unreadable.
Learn our full NordPass evaluate right here.
Dashlane
Dashlane could also be higher for these with extra demanding safety necessities. It comes with darkish internet scanning, a built-in digital non-public community, and synching between units. Dashlane’s desktop UI is clear and straightforward to grasp, for newcomers and consultants alike. So far, it additionally hasn’t been concerned in any form of information breach or hack.
Learn our full Dashlane evaluate right here.
LogMeOnce
LogMeOnce could be greatest for these enterprises that function over a variety of platforms, machine sorts, and techniques as a result of its wide-ranging, cross-platform assist. It’s extremely customizable however some customers report that it has sophisticated setup procedures. Within the service, LogMeOnce has a devoted password sharing heart, which I see might be helpful for groups that often share passwords amongst one another.
Learn our full LogMeOnce evaluate right here.
This text was initially printed in June 2024. It was up to date by Luis Millares in March 2025.
