Never forget your password again
This blog entry was posted on: 17 June 2010.
One thing Web surfers regularly complain about is having to juggle countless passwords for the various membership sites ‘out there’. Not only do you require a log-in for your e-mail, you may also require a password for online banking, your favourite shopping destinations, social networking sites, even your mobile phone user panel.
To help remember, the easy solution is to use a single log-in for all sites, but this raises a number of security problems. Firstly, should your details happen to fall into another person’s hands, they could potentially gain access to each site you’re registered with. Secondly, with personal data theft on the rise and increasingly sophisticated snooping software possibly lurking on your computer, it’s good practice to vary passwords to minimise potential damage.
However, remembering numerous log-ins can prove quite a hassle. You may be tempted to write down your passwords, but be warned: this is often no safer than using a single user/password combination.
The best solution is to use a free password remembering tool. Not only will these save you a whole lot of time, it’s one of the most secure and reliable methods available. Unless you can remember ALL your countless log-ins, give the following a try.
One service to investigate is Passpack. Their ‘free’ version stores up to 100 passwords and allows you to auto-login to over 25,000 sites. Better still, since the service is online, anyone with Internet access can use it.
Download LastPass (available on Windows, Mac, Linux and mobile) and you’ll never forget a password again. The free version securely stores passwords and also functions as a form filler, plus you can use their one-click log-in feature for fast access. You’ll be able to administer individual passwords by using a master password. This is the only one you’ll never need to remember!
It’s also worth investigating Handy Password, a password manager that’s also a form filler and bookmark manager. This utility attaches itself as a toolbar to your Web browser (Firefox and Internet Explorer) and is very easy to use. In addition, there is also a useful password recovery tool.
Some additional utilities to try include Online Vault and Access Manager.