by Bill Carey, Vice President of Marketing & Business Development at Siber Systems Inc.
It seems like news reports of hacking events come more frequently these days. From headline-grabbing data breaches at corporations like Sony, Home Depot and Target to hacking rings that compromise millions of usernames and passwords, it’s increasingly clear that no one is safe.
The best way to protect yourself is to use strong passwords that contain upper and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols, use a different password for every registered site and change each password every 30 to 60 days. But if you use a number of secure sites, it’s a major hassle to keep track of so many passwords, and if you write them down, you’re defeating the purpose of creating strong passwords in the first place.
A secure password manager can be the solution you need. With a password manager, you just have to remember one master password, and the password manager automatically creates and manages secure passwords for all of the sites you visit.
Here are five ways a well-designed password manager can make your life easier while keeping your accounts more secure:
1. You can log in at secure sites instantly.
Instead of trying to remember a dozen or more username and password combinations at all the sites you visit, you can use a password manager to remember that information and log you in automatically.
2. You’ll be able to complete online forms instantly.
Password managers are excellent form fillers. Enter your billing, shipping and payment information one time, and your password manager will complete forms during future checkouts with a single click.
3. Your password manager remembers membership card information.
Instead of carrying around multiple store membership and loyalty program cards to get discounts at stores, you can enter your information into your password manager’s Safenotes function. That way, you’ll have it on your mobile phone wherever you go.
4. Your passwords and personal information go wherever you do.
With a password manager, your data goes wherever you go, making it simple to use multiple computers, laptops and mobile devices while traveling – all without having to re-enter your information and login credentials repeatedly.
5. Your password manager makes it harder to hack your accounts.
Hacking is on the upswing, but a password manager makes it easy to create complex passwords and change them frequently, all without having to memorize login data for multiple sites.
For large corporations and individual Internet users alike, passwords are the first line of defense, so it pays to use strong passwords and change them frequently. A secure password manager makes it easier to keep track of your passwords – and makes your life easier in so many other ways too.
Bill Carey is Vice President of Marketing & Business Development at Siber Systems Inc., which offers the top-rated RoboForm Password Manager solution. Find out more about RoboForm at http://www.roboform.com/.
