A password manager makes your online life safer and easier

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On average people have about 100 online accounts. And on a weekly basis, we all likely use at least 10 accounts. However, most of us can’t name all the sites and services we have signed up for.

Just think about all the webstores where you have made just one purchase. Or the mobile apps you’ve had that require an account. Can you remember them all? If not, how could you remember all the passwords you use?

Multiple weak passwords

Because it’s easy, people tend to reuse a handful or just one password across all services. Alternatively, they make some slight alteration to their common password, like switching a letter to a number (for example Password – P4ssw0rd). This results in multiple weak passwords.

The issue with both methods is something called ‘credential stuffing’. In a nutshell, it’s likely that your login details have leaked through at least one data breach. And now criminals are trying that one leaked email address + password (and its variations) combination to access all your online services. As the name implies, they use specifically made programs to “stuff” your credentials to many different locks, hoping to open as many as possible.

And this simple technique often works. That’s because most people use the same passwords in many places. By stealing just one password in a data breach, criminals can take over several user accounts. The obvious solution to this issue is to have a unique password for each account. But remembering them all is just not an option.

Web browsers are unsafe for storing passwords

To avoid memorizing all passwords, many save them to their web browsers. Unfortunately, cyber criminals know this. In 2022, “info stealers” became a popular malware tool for cyber criminals. Info stealers often specifically target login credentials stored in browsers. For example, in December 2022 alone, cyber security experts F-Secure saw 23 million credentials stolen with malware. One of the key factors in the cyber criminal’s success is password sharing. According to F-Secure’s survey, 52% of people aged 18-24 share passwords with others on Netflix and Facebook and other services. Info stealers have a better chance of stealing shared passwords, as they are often saved on multiple devices. While you might handle your passwords with care, the person you share passwords with might not.

Master your passwords with a master password

So, let’s summarize: we all have 100+ online accounts. For each of them, we should have a unique password that unlocks only that service. But saving them to browsers is risky. So, how then can we remember them all? The answer is simple: we don’t. Instead, we save them in a password manager.

A password manager is an application that generates strong passwords and stores them securely. To access your password vault you only need to remember one “master password.” This, of course, needs to be strong and unique as well. But it’s easier to remember just one awesome password than a hundred of them.

Convenience on top of security

A password manager, like the one that is included in TalkTalk’s SuperSafe online security app, also speeds up signing into accounts. Just either copy and paste your passwords whenever you need them with no need to type them anymore. Never again will you have to wonder what your password was – or which O was actually a zero, or which I was a number 1. You can also just automatically fill in your passwords for even more convenient use. It’s handy, fast, and best of all: secure.

But is it a good idea to put all eggs in one basket? Not to worry. A good password manager stores passwords only on your device. This means that in order to break into your vault, an attacker would have to get hold of your device first. And even then, they would have to know your password. Getting past the encryption is extremely unlikely with today’s technology.

All the protection you need

If you want to take the next step and get all the protection you need, get SuperSafe online security from TalkTalk. It includes antivirus and a password manager. It secures all your digital moments on up to 10 of your devices including PCs, Macs, iPhones, and Android devices.

All you need to do to get it is login to My Account and subscribe to SuperSafe for just £5 per month (That’s just 17 pence a day) – you will then receive an email from F-Secure to install the app on to all your devices.