“Arggh! What’s my password?!!”
If you’ve ever felt the exquisite needlepoint of frustration trying to login to an online application or service for that ‘two minute to-do’ and had it eat 20 minutes, or you’re wondering if your manual method and basic document security is really up the job any longer, this article is for you.
As a start to an organized 2016, it’s time to move out of the spiral notebook or password-protected Word doc, and into a secure online system that gives you one-stop access to all of your important login data, and STOP THE CHAOS.
Password management can be broken down into the following:
Let’s eliminate the first line of defence – the password-accessible word document on your desktop machine. The pros of this are frankly quite limited: you’re experienced using it and it’s your go-to tool. Not much of a recommendation. The cons? You have to be ON your computer or network with the file, you might need to search the document for one record out of hundreds, and trying to add notes turns the document into a tar baby.
Next up is software that can be used to track passwords. An example is Evernote. The pros are that if you’re a daily/hourly Evernote user, having everything in one place can be handy. The cons are that Evernote does not use encryption so you can’t really keep most of your login data there for security purposes, AND having all those notebooks and stacks can get very confusing. And if you’re having to store two sets of differing levels of passwords in two different applications, what’s the point?
Now we get to the power of online applications in the cloud. Application-based password management tools give the best of all possible worlds: encryption of your stored set of passwords using military-grade protection – especially important if you manage passwords for anyone else like clients or contractors; the ability to set STRONG auto-generated passwords unique to each login (no more mypass1234!); auto-login so when you land on one of your regular sites at which you login, your password manager auto-fills the forms and logs you in without your intervention.
Finer points on password managers:
- If you manage logins for other people (as a web designer I login to my clients’ web sites and software systems regularly) be sure to choose a manager that allows for multi-login auto-complete; this means when you go to say GoDaddy and have 5 clients that use it, you’ll be given a drop-down of client logins to select from.
- If you like to keep a lot of notes with your login information, make sure to choose a manager that has a searchable notes field and tagging for fast recall of your selected inquiry.
- If you have multiple devices accessing your password manager, choose one that has automatic syncing between all of the devices.
For example, I have over 400 records in Passpack.com but have discovered that using a desktop application that requires manual syncing to the cloud has often created the issue where the password I need to access from another device or location is sitting un-synced on my desktop, AND that Passpack seems to require a lot of Adobe Air Manager updates, which mean I have to first make a backup to my desktop, so more often than not I’m pressed for time or am in the middle of a project so I press ‘skip update’ far too often. I will probably change my solution in 2016 to one of the listed managers below.
Recommended password managers:
Many of my friends who require device syncing and the ability to manage passwords for others swear by LastPass 3.0 Premium. At $12/year it is a bargain. Great across multiple devices, excellent auto-login for people with standard password needs.
I tried it but found it too different from what I was used to with Passpack, and didn’t like how it managed multiple logins for one client in one record, and I don’t want to have to wade through 10 pages of results if everything is split into separate records (10 records for one client with all of their unique logins vs one record with notes). A suggestion with LastPass because of the cloud dependency: change your master password a few times a year and use a secure quality password (capitals+lowercase+symbol+
Dashlane has very good reviews, and has a free version and a Synced/cloud-based add on at $39.99 USD. (That makes it too expensive for me.) Great for people with one device, and the emergency contacts function in case something happens to you is brilliant.
1Password is an odd one – no cloud service but instead can store data in Dropbox or iCloud (macs and OS X). It does offer over-WiFi syncing so your devices all stay current, and the coolest thing about it is you can have multiple password vaults to allow for sharing of specific records with family or coworkers. For women working in tech, the comparison function to determine against server patches to protect against hacking vulnerabilities gets an A+. Expensive at $49.99 USD.
SplashID – you can choose to use either cloud-based or local only storage, and it supports synchronization over the internet, WiFi, sharing and best of all it comes with support. Great for people who hate technology. You can also configure a login as ‘local only’ for records like your online banking, medical lab work, etc. $1.99/mo for the synced version or $19.99/year USD.
To sum up:
Changing how you manage passwords can be a hurdle. There’s a feeling of security in doing things the way you’ve always done, you may feel a resistance to paying for password management when your existing solution is free, and concerns about hacking can create hesitation if you’re new to software based solutions. (The security of software based is very good today).
However, relying on a word document or spiral notebook just doesn’t cut it. If your hard drive dies or your notebook is lost or stolen you’ll be in a world of pain. Better to look over your current use of passwords to determine what features/functions are most important and take steps to get a secure, easy-to-use solution implemented for a professional and responsible approach to password management.
