Do you ever feel like you’re performing a massive juggling act with all the passwords you have to manage? If so, you’re not alone. A recent report shows that about one in four people share this struggle. But it’s not just the number of passwords that’s overwhelming—it’s also the security risks they bring.
Most of us aren’t cyber security experts, which shows in our password habits. Weak, predictable passwords and the dangerous practice of using the same one across multiple accounts are common pitfalls.
Consider this: the average person uses the same password for five different accounts. And those generic passwords like “12345”? They’ve been exposed in 23 million account breaches. Maybe you think you’re clever by using “P@ssw0rd”, but unfortunately that’s not really any better.
Cybercriminals are already skilled at cracking passwords, and our slip-ups are practically an invitation for them to do their worst. In fact, stolen login details contribute to 90% of data leaks, with an estimated $434 billion expected to be lost to online payment fraud globally between 2024 and 2027.
There is a simple fix for this though. So, what’s the fix?
Password managers are the simplest solution to the burden of password overload.
These handy tools eliminate the headache of remembering and managing multiple complex passwords by generating and storing unique ones for every account you have. No more “12345” mishaps—just solid security that also simplifies your digital life. Imagine logging in with a single click or auto-filling forms without a second thought.
If you’ve read this far, I’m sure you aren’t using a password manager. So let me explain further, since most people tend to get blown away with how simple they are once they start using one.
With a password manager you only need to remember one password – the one to the password manager itself (the “master password”). From there, it will store every credential you have for every service. Not only that, it can generate an ultra-secure password for you for each of these accounts.
What do I mean by that? Something like “9#5!k2yHfJRjDLe!*^Qa”. That’s 20 characters of completely random letters, numbers, and symbols. It would take an extremely long time to brute-force crack that password. It’s also clearly not guessable since nobody can remember that.
The great thing is, you don’t have to remember it. The password manager does it for you. Then it fills it in for you automatically.
Now imagine that you had a unique password just like that for every one of your accounts. Hackers breached a service you use? No problem, your password to every other service is different.
There are additional ways a password manager adds additional security. One of the overlooked ones is that it verifies the URL for you. What do I mean? When it looks to auto-fill a credential for you, it verifies it’s on the right site. So no phishing site like Annazon.com (double n’s instead of an m) can trick it even though you might not have noticed.
Most password managers also have comparisons to see if you reuse passwords or if any of them have been included in known breaches. That’s some added knowledge you might not realize and alerts you to make some changes before it’s too late.
A password manager not only tightens your security but also streamlines your online interactions. Curious about which password manager could best secure your business? We’ve got an entire business guide eBook on the topic. Want to know even more than that? Drop us a line and we can chat about your options.