One Password to Rule Them All: Why You Need a Password Manager
Mastering the Art of Strong Passwords/Passphrases: It's Easier Than You Think
“I use the same password across all of my accounts. It’s too hard to remember…..But I do change my password – I just add a different number at the end”.
This was the response I got when I was talking about password managers. This is woefully true for many, many people – independent of generation. I agree it is hard remembering passwords.
Here’s why I advocate for the use of a password manager. I have heard of a person who left their laptop in their car. The car was broken into and the laptop stolen. No passwords were saved on the laptop. The passwords were recorded in a book with the laptop. The thief accessed their accounts. Another person, working within finance, records passwords in an Excel spreadsheet. They use the same password but with a different character at the end of the password. Their Excel spreadsheet is “password protected”.
I hear an audible gasp when I show this table to people.
Ben, one of the protagonists, in the book “Devil’s Kitchen” by one of my favourite authors, Candice Fox, is a firefighter. But he has another skill - hacking. He’s not an IT professional. He hacked into a system – BAM! Just like that.
I use a password manager because my login credentials can be stored securely. There are two options when you use a password manager – creating a password or a passphrase.
With the password you have the option of the length of characters. You can choose upper and lower case letters, numbers and characters (e.g., !@#$%^&*). An example of a password is “fAjb&kjAZUdN2QD!G7H6” which as 20 characters.
With a passphrase, you have the option for the number of words, a word separator (e.g., “-“, “?”), capitalising the words and the inclusion of a number. An example of a passphrase is “Shorts-Tantrum-Sedate9-Tartly” which has 29 characters.
I love using my password manager. I get to choose crazy passwords and passphrases because both are randomly generated. If I don’t like the password/passphrase, I choose another. Simple.
And simplicity is what you get when you use a password manager – you only need to remember ONE master password/passphrase, and that is to get into the password manager itself.
I am not going to recommend a particular password manager, but I do recommend doing your research to find the best fit for you. Here’s a list of password managers with costs and apps for PC, Mac, Android, iPhone, and web browsers. Each password manager app will have a FAQ page and YouTube videos about how to install it.
Personally, I think that when you are stuck for a gift idea, gift a password manager subscription. Remembering a multitude of passwords is hard independent of age group.
I urge to consider using a password manager. You will no longer be using the same password across all of your accounts, and you will just have to remember one password/passphrase - your master password/passphrase for your password manager!