Keeper. Why You Should Use a Password Manager in 2024

You should use a password manager in 2024 because a password manager protects your login credentials and keeps your online data safe. Password managers do more than just protect and store passwords; they also store your passkeys, generate new, strong passwords, and let you store and securely share important documents such as medical records, identification cards, credit cards and more.

Continue reading to learn why using a password manager is important in 2024 and the risks associated with not using one.

What is a password manager?

Password managers create, store and manage passwords, passkeys and other data. People who use password managers only need to remember a single password known as their master password to securely access the rest of their passwords. They can also opt to use their biometrics, like FaceID, to sign into their password manager vault seamlessly.

6 reasons why you should use a password manager

There are many reasons to use a password manager in 2024. Here are six of the top reasons.

1. Password-based attacks are the top attack vector in 2024

Last year, cybercriminals made over $1 billion in ransom payments. Ransomware, malware and password-based attacks are on the rise in 2024. Stolen credentials are commonly used by cybercriminals to successfully execute data breaches, according to Verizon’s 2023 Data Breach Investigations Report. In fact, 74% of breaches involve the use of stolen credentials. Cybercriminals often purchase these stolen credentials on the dark web and use them to access personal and work accounts. Since many people often use the same password across multiple websites, applications and systems, if a single password is compromised, all your accounts that use the same password are also at risk of being compromised.

The best way to protect yourself and your organization from password-based attacks is by using a password manager. A password manager with dark web monitoring capabilities helps you ensure each of your passwords is strong and unique. It’ll also notify you in real time if any of your credentials are found on the dark web so you can take action immediately by changing your passwords.

2. Reduces password fatigue

The average person has about 100 online accounts including, financial, social media, work and school accounts. That means people are expected to remember over 100 unique passwords. This often leads to people using the same password or a variation of the same password across multiple accounts, ultimately putting their accounts at higher risk of being compromised. Password managers generate strong and unique passwords for online accounts and store them securely in an encrypted digital vault. The only password users have to remember is a master password to access their login credentials and other sensitive data – significantly reducing password fatigue.

3. Helps you generate strong and unique passwords

Password managers have a built-in password generator that can instantly create strong and unique passwords. By using a password manager’s autofill function, users can create passwords for their accounts without having to come up with them on their own. This ensures that each of their accounts is always secured with a strong password that can’t be easily compromised by a cybercriminal.

4. Protects you from phishing scams

Many phishing scam emails and text messages are created to lead unsuspecting victims to phishing websites designed to steal login credentials, credit card details and more. Some phishing websites can be difficult for the average person to spot. Password managers can easily spot phishing websites due to their autofill capabilities. A password manager with an autofill function will only autofill your credentials if the website’s URL matches the one you have stored in your password manager’s vault. If the password manager doesn’t autofill your credentials, this is an immediate red flag that the site you’re on is not legitimate and likely malicious.

Insecurely sharing any sensitive information through email or text message can place your accounts and your identity at risk of being compromised. It’s important that when you’re choosing to share private documents or passwords, you do it in a way that is secure and allows you to manage access to them. Password managers like Keeper do just that. With Keeper Password Manager users can share stored data through vault-to-vault sharing or the One-Time Share feature.

Vault-to-vault sharing allows you to share access to a record with other people who use Keeper. Before sharing you can choose how much access you want the recipient to have, such as View Only, Can Edit, Can Share and Can Edit & Share. You can also revoke access to the record at any time. One-Time Share allows you to share records with anyone on a time-limited basis, even if they’re not a Keeper user themselves.

6. Works across multiple browsers and devices

There are three main types of password managers: password managers that come built into your devices like iCloud Keychain, browser password managers like the one that comes with Chrome and standalone password managers like Keeper. One of the biggest limitations of both iCloud Keychain and browser password managers is that they can’t be accessed from everywhere. For example, you can’t access your iCloud Keychain data from a Windows computer and you can’t access your Chrome data from another browser like Safari.

This limitation can cause frustration, especially when you want to sign in to one of your accounts from a different browser or device. Standalone password managers, on the other hand, allow you to access your stored data from anywhere, no matter what device or browser you’re using.

What are the risks of not using a password manager?

Here are a few of the risks associated with not using a password manager.

Password reuse

Many people tend to use the same password or variations of the same password for multiple accounts. This is typically because people can’t remember unique passwords for every single account. This is a major risk because if just one reused password is compromised, it places every account that uses the same password at risk of also becoming compromised.

Weak password creation

Creating passwords that are considered strong is difficult to do on your own. Strong passwords have to be at least 16 characters and contain uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols. However, these strong passwords are difficult for people to remember, so most people choose to create passwords that are weak but easy to remember.

Using weak passwords for accounts is dangerous because it increases the likelihood of an unauthorized user being able to guess or crack that password successfully.

Multiple password resets

When people forget their password, their first option is to reset it. While resetting your password once won’t hurt you, resetting your password multiple times can. The more times you need to reset your passwords, the more likely you are to use weak passwords or begin reusing passwords. This is especially true if you don’t use a password manager to help you create and store them.

Password sharing isn’t uncommon. People share their login credentials with friends and family for streaming accounts like Spotify, Hulu and Prime Video. When sharing passwords, a lot of people choose to share them using insecure methods like text messages and emails. These sharing methods are dangerous because they’re not encrypted, which means anyone can intercept them. Additionally, by sharing your passwords insecurely you have no visibility into who you’ve shared your password with. This makes it extremely difficult to properly manage your accounts and who has access to them.

Keep your most important data secure with a password manager

Password managers are amazing tools to invest in to keep your online data safe from cyber threats and criminals. Aside from protecting your information, they also make your online experience a whole lot easier with their autofill capabilities.

To see how a password manager can help you secure your data and streamline your online experience, start a free 30-day trial of Keeper Password Manager today.

Source: Keeper

April 9, 2024