Everyday tasks like checking email, posting on social
media, and ordering groceries online require you to enter a password. In
fact, one study found that an average person now has about 100
passwords. We all know it's a bad idea to reuse passwords or to use
weak passwords like the dog's name, a kid's birthday, or that infamous
unsecure password: 12345. On the other hand, it's impossible to remember
dozens of strong passwords. Lets take an example MR XYZ was shocked as he received a message
stating that 1 Lakh has been debited from his account. After investigation from
Cybercrime Department he came to know that his credit card details have been
leaked, since creating new passwords across all accounts costs time and
is a tedious work so he had created just one password for all accounts and in
this process, he lost his money. He was very loyal even with his password.
This is just one case of password leakage but
in general, approximately 18.2M accounts were breached in 2022 so far, meaning
that the data of two users was leaked every second. So how to store these many
passwords securely is a big question among the computer users. Let’s dive into
the blog to find answer to the above question which can hinder your privacy if
left unanswered.
Why is it important to store password securely?
1. Account Takeover
A hacker may be able to gain control of one or more of
your accounts, from email to social media. While you work to regain
access, the attacker may message your colleagues, family, or friends to
ask for money or scam them out of their private information. They can
change your passwords too and within few minutes you become homeless from your
own account without you knowing it
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2. Identity Theft:
Mr. XYZ has been struggling to make a girlfriend with his
identity and here our Mr. Identity Thief was talented enough to make a
girlfriend with Mr. XYZ's identity . An identity thief who gets into
a key account may be able to steal important personal information, from
your full name to your address. They can use this information to
impersonate you, open credit accounts in your name, and create a mess that
may take months to fix.
3. Financial Theft
A cybercriminal who gets your bank password may access
your account before you realize there's a problem. There are federal
protections for unauthorized transactions, but resolving the issue
can take time and leave you broke for months but anyone's day can't be as bad
as the day of the cybercriminal who will be trying to hack my bank account
without knowing I am the most broke person he would ever meet. I am assured he
will be more richer than me.
How to Store passwords securely ?
1. Browse password Manager
Popular internet browsers
such as Chrome, Firefox, and Safari all offer a password management
feature. You can set the browser to ask you if you want to store your
password whenever you create an account. You also can have the browser automatically
sign you into your account every time.
Pros of using password manager
a. The
password manager already exists in top internet browsers, so there's no
need to download and learn a new application.
b. It's quick
and easy to tweak your settings and click "yes" when prompted to
store your password.
c. You can store your passwords in your browser without paying a single penny
Cons of using password manager
a. It only works on one browser so if we have to work on another browser we have to enter it manually
b. Since customization has become an trend we cannot customize password in password manager
2. Password Manager Application
a. Best place to store passwords.
We can easily create , manage and access our passwords
b. We can get customized strong
passwords
c. They may offer a free plan with basic features
Cons of using Password Manager
Application
a. Takes time to find the right
password
b. Even the best applications
get user complaints about occasional tech glitches such as a user getting
locked out of the password manager or not being asked if they want to save
a password.
c. You typically need a long, very strong master password to log into your password manager.
Some recommended password manager applications are:
a. Norton Password Manager
b. Dashlane
c. Bitwarden
d. LastPass
e. Zoho Vault
These are some of the recommended
methods to store passwords but mostly we save the passwords using the
below ways to store passwords which are mostly unsecure.
Notes app
on your phone — Anyone who picks up your
phone may get access to all your passwords unless your phone is protected
with a strong passcode.
Email — Have you ever emailed yourself a password so you don't
forget it? Emails may be stored on different servers and may even sit
in trash folders after being deleted, making it easy for a hacker to swipe
your passwords.
Document on your computer — Even if you password protect a Word document or spreadsheet, a hacker using a keystroke logger may be able to capture your passwords. And you'd also need a place to store the password for the document.
A password manager can require
a bit of a learning curve but it's much better than having your accounts
hijacked because you stored your passwords the wrong way. So save your passwords safely as It's always better to be Safe than Sorry.
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