In today’s world of “passwords aplenty” — it’s crucial that you follow proper password management best practices.
While complex passwords and recovery questions that cannot be easily gleaned are helpful, the best way to keep secure all your account logins, as well as personal information, is to use a password manager.
The days of sticky notes on the monitor, “cheat sheets” under the keyboard and Excel document saved on your desktop must become a thing of the past. This is because the virtual data contained within your PC is incredibly vulnerable. Trojans and other viruses can infect your PC, even if you have the best anti-virus software, and can result in you losing your personal data. In addition, the account credentials that are cached on our browser can be easily culled with readily available software.
An encrypted password repository protects this data by providing an extra layer of security.
And luckily for you, there are plenty of options — many of which are free — to store encrypted passwords either locally on your machine or online. This, combined with strong and unique passwords and two-factor authentication, helps password managers not only secure your account credentials, but also make retrieval and usage much easier.
A few of the most well-known password managers include:
You will need to consider your requirements before choosing your solution. If you are looking for a single user solution, all of these will provide that capability. If you are trying to manage passwords for a team of people, there are a few options with the granularity and security that you would want, allowing you one repository with different levels of access.
If you’re interested in protecting your data using a password manager, or some other IT security software, North Shore Data Services is here to help. Contact us today by calling 978-988-0201 or contacting our sales department at www.ns-data.com or opening a ticket with our help desk via email at helpdesk@ns-data.com.
