We all complain about too many passwords (which there are), and we struggle to track and record them.
Some people write them on their whiteboards (really a bad idea), track them with stickies on their monitor (bad idea, too), keep them listed on a sheet of paper in a drawer (bad), have them in a spreadsheet (at least password protect it, but still bad – I can break this with a free tool in about 5 minutes) on their phone or desktop, and/or simply reuse the same one over and over again across multiple sites (really, really bad idea).
I use, and recommend, an encrypted password database program. An encrypted password database is simply a database of your passwords that is encrypted (scrambled) so people can’t read your passwords. You do need a password to open the database, but you only have to remember that one password, rather than scores of others. They make these programs for smartphones (iPhone, Android), desktops (Mac and PC) and tablets (iPad and Android).
I have one on my Android phone, iPad, and desktop with over 300 accounts and passwords. Since I always have my phone (or iPad) with me, it I can look up any of these unique passwords for these sites and not have to remember them (I’ve probably memorized 5, not including the password for the program itself). No more, ‘I’m using someone else’s computer and I can’t remember the password to check flight reservation.’ moment.
Many of these programs are free or cheap, and many can synchronize the passwords across multiple devices (for example, mine keeps them synchronized across my Android, iPad and home PC). What this synchronization means is whichever device I’m on (PC, Android, iPad), they all have the same data on my passwords and important files.
What to look for in an password protection program/app?
- Make sure there is a version for all the operating systems you need (e.g., in my case, it had to support Android, Windows, and iOS)
- Make sure it has automatic locking (i.e., after you close it, the next time you use it it locks or it locks after 5 minutes of inactivity)
- Makes sure it has at least 128bit encryption
- Make sure it can generate passwords for you (i.e., instead of you deciding each and every password, it will generate them for you, if you want.), and make sure these passwords have a number, letter, and at least a total of 8 characters
- Don’t use cloud based backup for password programs/apps. This is a personal matter of paranoia for me, but I don’t want someone else managing my passwords in the cloud. You are welcome to disregard this if you wish; as I said, this is my own bugaboo
There are a lot of password databases programs out there. Below is a sampling of ones with good reputations. I am not specifically endorsing any of these (and there are many more out there, too), but these are a good place to start if you are looking.
- mSecure
- 1password
- Dashlane password manager
- Norton identity safe
- Lastpass
So, look some up, try some, and for Pete’s sake don’t write your passwords on your whiteboard!