If someone had asked ten years ago, I would have said that the familiar use of passwords for logging into systems and accounts would be replaced by some innovative technology, long before 2024. Luckily, nobody asked.
True, biometric identification and two-factor authentication (MFA) have made a nice entry, and with them also tools for implementing authentication solutions for various services, but passwords are still with us, in a big way, and for quite a few services. And our memory, it must be admitted, has really not improved in the last decade, nor has our ability to concentrate, and human weaknesses are the same human weaknesses as before. No wonder Andrew Tate is one of the most popular searches on Google, and that Taylor Swift, according to the polls, would win quite a few votes if she ran for President of the USA.
All this introduction is meant to say that even today, at the end of 2024, passwords like 123456789 or the word PASSWORD are still among the most common passwords. both when it comes to logging into sensitive systems and among people who are supposed to be very aware of the risks. Just as common is reusing the same password for a large share of the services we have signed up to. So it is not surprising that, according to reports, over 80% of cyber incidents occur following a leak or the use of a weak password.
The answer to this challenge of "how on earth am I supposed to remember the passwords of all the services I've signed up for" is provided by password managers – solutions that serve as a kind of "vault" in which passwords can be stored in a way that is available, accessible and fairly secure.
Google Password Manager, the free, simple solution built into the Chrome browser and Android-based devices, is a convenient and effective way to save passwords and also to sync them between the devices connected to your Google account. It can be assumed that the amount of resources Google allocates to securing its products is a number with many zeros. By its nature the tool is limited to Chrome and Android, so it is not suitable for applications that are not "browser-based", and therefore it will usually suit personal use more than business use. A notable drawback, compared to the independent password managers, is that the passwords are (also) stored locally, in the operating system of the specific device, and it turns out there are quite a few ways to break in there uninvited. Another danger lies less in the technology and more in the fact that many of us leave, knowingly or not, the browser and personal Google account open on a variety of devices (on the daughter's tablet, on the old phone now used by the youngest son at home, on the laptop sitting on the kitchen counter and open on the news, on the computer at the office and more), without two-factor authentication, and without the session being limited.
For users who are not afraid of a little "technical" tinkering and are looking for a more advanced and also more flexible solution in terms of the various functions (sharing passwords between users, saving passwords for non-browser systems, and more), there are systems like Bitwarden, LastPass and 1Password, which support the various operating systems and browsers, let you create unique passwords for each account, share passwords securely, and enjoy high levels of encryption and two-factor authentication. LastPass is popular, user-friendly and maintains a fairly sufficient free version. Their system, by their own admission, has experienced breaches in the past, but it is claimed that user passwords remained encrypted. 1Password, another popular password manager, is considered very secure and focused on protecting user privacy, but there is no free version. Bitwarden is perceived as slightly less intuitive to use than the previous two, but it is an open-source system backed by a significant community, and as such it is likely to be examined and researched on an ongoing and transparent basis. The free version offers a variety of options, and the paid one is relatively cheap and includes features such as file storage and advanced authentication.
The best safe isn't worth much if we left the key under the doormat at the entrance, and obviously the master password of the password manager (or of our Google account) must be strong and unique, because two-step verification must be enabled and, no less important – the session time must be strictly limited. Still undecided? Start with a free solution such as Google Password Manager or Bitwarden, and don't forget to stick to these things.
*This short blog post does not purport to constitute a professional opinion about the products mentioned in it, and should not be regarded as such.
