According to a study commissioned by NordPass, the average person has approximately 100 passwords (related article can be found in Security Brief New Zealand website). This number has steadily grown from 70 to 80 passwords in 2019. Moreover, this number is still expected to grow as people become increasingly inclined to download various applications and create several accounts because of the pandemic.
As people spend much time indoors, they download countless applications for various reasons, whether it’s for entertainment, shopping, exercise, or other online resources. These additional applications prompt users to create accounts, thereby increasing the number of passwords they already possess.
Here lies the problem. Given that people are required to keep track of hundreds of passwords, they no longer put an effort to create a highly secure one. They abandon the sense of security for convenience and fast recollection. That’s understandable because they have too many to remember. However, this scenario poses a serious security concern.
The quick remedy to this dilemma is to rely on your browser’s autofill feature. Thanks to this feature, we rarely feel the impact and hassle of remembering all those passwords because our browsers fill them out when we access our accounts. Although this is a convenient feature, it puts us in a situation where we are too complacent, thereby rendering us susceptible to cyberattacks and worse, identity theft.
There are at least a couple of ways to get through this password dilemma. First, you can choose to use the same password for all your accounts. You may even rotate several, easy-to-remember passwords, and this strategy might work. However, this is also risky. Imagine if someone will gain access to that one password you’ve been using, then you can say goodbye to your precious data.
The alternative is to put in some effort to come up with truly random passwords that are secure, complete with special characters, numbers, and lowercase and uppercase letters. But is this the most practical way? Probably not.
What if we tell you that you can use another alternative? Password managers are tools that help you come up with secure passwords, let you organize, and for added convenience, allow you to access these passwords across multiple devices while safeguarding them from threats. Think of them as multifeatured password keepers.
A lot of password managers are in the market right now, but for this article, we narrowed down our criteria to a few items so you can decide which one is the best depending on your requirements. We’ve curated this list based on the products’ price, availability of tech support, ease of use, and of course, their features.
We took the liberty of gathering the best password managers in 2023. Here are our picks for the best password managers to try:
The most affordable password manager in this list
While most password managers include one or two additional features to get an edge over their competitors, NordPass offers several added features that include a password generator, unlimited password storage, and log-in and web form autofill.
NordPass comes from the same company that developed NordVPN. The company hopes to replicate its success in the VPN industry and bring the same level of expertise in the password management arena.
What’s unique with NordPass is the choice of algorithm that it uses for encryption. XChaCha20 is a type of algorithm that is less vulnerable to certain types of cyberattacks (example, cache timing). Even a supercomputer capable of guessing a billion keys per second will probably take a billion years to crack this algorithm’s code.
Other Details of NordPass:
Military-grade encryption for an affordable price
1Password’s combination of affordability and reliability is an offer that’s hard to refuse. Its web and mobile apps are also intuitive and simple to use but make no mistake. 1Password is dead serious when it comes to protecting your sensitive data.
1Password utilizes the industry-standard 256-bit AES encryption while maintaining a zero-knowledge policy when it comes to its user’s data. Therefore, you can be rest assured that the information that you initially shared with this password manager are not stored in a server somewhere.
Here are some of the key features of 1Password:
Other Details of 1Password:
Try out 1Password for 14 days for free now!
Risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee when you try out their features
LastPass offers layers of security, comes with more features than others of the same class do, and offers a pretty affordable plan.
Among its wealth of features, the following are quite convenient:
Other Details of LastPass:
Try LastPass today for free for 30 days!
Starting at $31.49 per year, Keeper is probably one of the most bang-for-the-buck password managers in the market today
Its affordable plans are just one of its attractive features. Keeper’s ease of use, security, and functionality are on par with the leading juggernauts in the industry. For starters, they employ the same 256-bit AES encryption that most, if not all, password managers use nowadays. On top of that, they also employ multifactor authentication (MFA), thereby allowing you to access your passwords with your Touch and Face IDs.
They also follow a zero-knowledge policy when it comes to retaining user information.
Other Details of Keeper:
The best password manager in the market today
We have also tried Dashlane, and it didn’t disappoint. It’s safe to say that it is our favorite password manager right now.
With Dashlane, organizing your password becomes easy. Importing your passwords, generating new ones, saving, and sharing them across multiple devices can be done with just a few clicks.
Dashlane also offers the following features:
Other Details of Dashlane:
Free for 30 days, get Dashlane now!
Best password manager for corporate and business accounts
Thycotic deals with Privileged Access Management (PAM); that is, among the names on this list, Thycotic is one of those whose primary target market are corporate entities. Secret Server’s role is to come up with a tool to easily detect, control, change, and audit privileged accounts across any organization.
Thycotic’s award-winning software gives security and IT ops teams fast access to secure and manage all types of privileges, thereby protecting administrator, service, application, and root accounts from outside attacks. Secret Server is highly customizable, compatible with your workflow, and fully scalable as your organization grows.
Secret Server also has the following features:
Other Details of Secret Server:
Try out Secret Server for free today!
Perfect for small businesses and for those who are just getting started
Do you have a small business and look for a reliable password manager to help you manage your privileged accounts? If so, then Zoho Vault might be perfect for you.
Vault is part of the Zoho business management tool suite along with other tools on offer, including the Zoho Vault password manager. Zoho Vault has user management and password assessment report.
Other Details of Zoho Vault:
Best practices for a secure password include using a random combination of letters (uppercase and lowercase), numbers, and special characters. Additionally, the password should be a minimum of 8 characters long and difficult to guess.
Reusing the same password across your accounts is very risky. You may rotate between several, easy-to-remember passwords, and you might think this strategy can work for you. However, imagine if someone gains access to that one password you’ve been using, then you can say goodbye to your precious data.
Yes, you should always enable 2-Factor Authentication wherever possible. 2-Factor Authentication adds a second step when logging into your account by prompting you for a code sent to you in an email, text message, phone call, or authentication app. This code expires quickly so that means that even if your password is compromised you are still protected as hackers will not be able to pass the second step without access to your devices.
If you are one of those people who keeps track of multiple passwords at a time, then a password manager can step in and solve the problem. Having a password manager is perfect for those who are having trouble remembering to change their passwords, aren’t good at creating unique ones, or are simply struggling to recall all the passwords needed in their day-to-day tasks.
Most password managers will not only help you create strong passwords but also let you organize and keep them in one place securely (while having access to them across all your devices). A password manager is not only a convenient but also a reliable tool to keep your online life secure. Moreover, it helps in adding a layer of protection between unscrupulous entities and your valuable information.
References:
Williams, Shannon. “Average Person Has 100 Passwords – Study.” Security Brief New Zealand. October 21, 2020. https://securitybrief.co.nz/story/average-person-has-100-passwords-study.
Last updated on by Joshua Holdeman
