“Open Sesame”!
Most of us have grown up hearing these magic words, the secret password, that know would reveal the treasures of the bandit king to Alibaba in The Arabian Nights. They also anticipate, with a mixture of fear and thrill, the consequences Cassim (Ali’s brother) would face for forgetting the password.
I can see a parallel to our digital lives. In today’s digital era, almost all online services require a username and a password regardless of it being a paid service or not. We use passwords to protect our personal spaces in the cyber world because they contain a lot of our personal data including contacts, documents, financial details, photos and more. We use a strong password to keep it all nicely locked up but what if we forget this very vital password? We need to create another. Well, that’s fine but what if the key password falls in the wrong hands?
The modern thieves are the cyber criminals who, with their army of malware and bots, spam and phishing messages, are on the lookout for new prey – our passwords. With the expansion of our digital lives, we carry out an increasing number of tasks online because of which, we are now owners of several passwords. What if a cybercriminal gets access to them?
The recent spate of the Facebook privacy issues, has shown the importance of being vigilant about our online account security. Just a password may not offer sufficient security unfortunately as cybercriminals have very advanced domain knowledge. So, we additionally use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) to strengthen our account security. But it has left us with the added hassle of creating strong but unique passwords, remembering them and then changing them periodically. We wonder- isn’t there an easier way- something that will allow us to stay safe without having to memorize, or jot down the different passwords?
On the occasion of World Password Day, which falls on May 3rd this year, let me tell you how you can make your digital world hassle-free and yet safer – switch to a password manager.
What’s a password manager and why do we need it?
In simple terms, a password manager stores all your User IDs and passwords, enabling you to log into different websites automatically. As passwords are randomly generated and encrypted, they are safe from hackers and you need to only remember your master password.
Here are some facts that will surely convince you why you need a password manager:
- Forget the hassle of remembering separate passwords– Now all you have to do is just remember the master password and the Password Manager will remember all your login details and passwords for you
- Enhanced safety with MFA – You can choose multiple factors including your biometrics and another device to access your account.
- Generate random passwords that are difficult to guess– No more pulling out hair over creating new passwords- the Password Manager will take care of this task for you.
- Simple to login and operate several accounts- The whole process of login becomes simple as you need to login to your device using your master password and MFA and the Password Manager will automatically fill in details when you enter a URL or click on the website logo.
Have you started using a Password Manager? Would love to hear how this has benefitted you. Keep writing to me and sharing your tips and concerns. Together we can make the digital world much safer.
Happy World Password Day to you!
Stay Updated
Follow us to stay updated on all things McAfee and on top of the latest consumer and mobile security threats.
