Overview
A password manager is an application that securely creates and stores passwords, and can often securely store other information such as credit card numbers. A password manager allows an individual to create, store, and access many passwords and other information from multiple trusted devices while needing to remember only one password - the password to access the password manager application.
Features of a Good Password Manager
Good password managers will:
- Create strong, unique passwords for each of your accounts
- Provide your password when you visit the related website
- Sync your passwords between your trusted devices
- Monitor lists of known compromised passwords and warn you if your passwords have been compromised
- Protect your passwords with strong encryption
Advantages of a Password Manager
Stronger passwords and fewer passwords to remember
It is common knowledge that for the best online security, you should use a strong password, and that you should use a different strong password for every account you access. Most people have dozens, if not hundreds of accounts they need to secure with passwords - email accounts, bank accounts, school or work accounts, social media accounts, etc. Trying to remember many passwords that contain upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters is hard, especially when using random passwords like rRA.BhgPourL2o3kqf-uNaKx. As a result, people often use shorter passwords that barely meet security standards such as Hunter-1. Worse still, people have a tendency to reuse the same password for many accounts and, when they need to change passwords, make very minor changes such as Hunter-2, Hunter-3, etc.
By allowing a password manager to generate and remember your passwords, you can use r6qo4YMf-ByGatkxAB*e6.H! for your MySpace account, 3yPprLke2wk2Fb_AGhkYzRGv for your bank account, FFbe8doWK@!tY8UVhHgqipq4 for your personal email account and ZZ_gRPY93xzMhyrm8xRnzB7Rj8J_kYWdnek2nXu3phqyFkkazs2CxvkE7zmJUU6a for your admin account, and not have to remember any of them. The only password you need to remember is the password to your password manager. At Texas A&M University, 1Password is secured with your NetID account.
Easy access to your passwords
Because you can access your Texas A&M 1Password account from your computer, your phone, or online, you can always have access to your secure passwords. Most browsers have plugins available that will allow you to easily access and fill in website passwords. Changes to passwords made on one device will be synchronized to the other devices where you use your password manager.
More secure
Using a password manager such as 1Password to generate and store your passwords encourages the use of unique passwords for every account or website. You do not need to reuse the same password across multiple sites or accounts. Passwords are stored in a secure and encrypted manner and not in a browser.