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Password manager apps protect against hacks by keeping passwords secure

morningagclips.com

Many people use the same password, or a variation thereof, to access the myriad of websites or apps that they use on a daily basis, and after every big hack, experts warn people to stop.

As Vox reports, using a cartoon to illustrate, many people use passwords they can easily remember because they think there is nowhere more secure to store them than in their own brains, which are anything but reliable in terms of memory. Even if someone is successful at this, it doesn’t take hackers long to figure out, through simple computer programs, the slightly different variations of the same password that people use.

Experts recommend that people abandon the thought that they can keep track of passwords in their heads and instead use password managers, which can be thought of as digital safes that lock all of the passwords up and can be accessed by one master password, the only one the user has to remember. The master password unlocks this digital safe and allows users to access the rest of their passwords.

Since it is an app, it can be accessed either through a smart phone or tablet and from an Internet browser.

The main benefit of using these digital safes is that one’s passwords can be more varied and complex. Another benefit is that the content contained within password managers cannot be hacked becaus all of the data is encrypted, so if a hacker looks inside, all they see is scrambled words.

The LastPass password manager was hacked last year, but as Voxreports, users only had to change their master passwords. The encryption protected the passwords stored within against the hack.

The other way to keep passwords secure is the good old paper and pencil method, but the obvious drawback there is that paper can get lost or stolen.

But as password manager apps go, Vox recommends LastPass, which is free, and 1Password, which costs a few bucks a month.