Password managers: Why you need them

Data breaches are one of the top cybersecurity threats in the world. In 2022 alone, there were 1,802 known data breaches affecting over 420 million victims, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center. Many types of personal information, including passwords, were stolen.

Password managers are one of the most effective ways to prevent yourself from being a victim of incidents like these, able to greatly minimise the harm from a data breach.

What is a password manager?

A password manager is a service that generates random strings of letters, numbers and symbols to create exceptionally secure passwords. Unique credentials are created for every online account you own. Your information is filled out automatically. To access your accounts, you need only one master password that controls access to the entire database.

Naturally, all of this is encrypted so it's virtually impossible for anyone to gain access to your list.

Why should you use a password manager?

This can be demonstrated with the aforementioned data breach example.

Assume you don't use a password manager, and like many others, you share credentials across services.

You're the victim of a data breach and your password on any given service is compromised. The cybercriminal, with your password, can then access all sites that you share that password with. They might be able to access your email, banking or credit card accounts. The new information provides them with all your personal data, which is then used to steal your identity. Unrecognised credit card charges or applications for new credit lines come in because they've discovered both your credit card number and Social Security number. The damages are astronomical.

Well, they would be, but you're using a unique password on the service that incurred the data breach. Now, the cybercriminal can't access any of your other accounts. The damage is isolated, and your identity is safe.

Make your life easier and protect yourself from cyberthreats with a password manager

There are many other benefits to having a password manager that we haven't discussed here, but you should definitely use one. You don't even necessarily have to pay for a subscription, as competent free options have become available for public download. Choose one that has the right features you need.

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