Written by Craig Lurey
Using unique passwords is one of the best practices for securing online accounts, but trying to memorize dozens of passwords across all your applications is nearly impossible.
A password manager helps to protect access to online accounts by securely storing credentials. In this article, we discuss the features and benefits of a reliable password manager and how they work.
Password managers are software applications that often use encrypted databases to track, store, protect and manage online credentials.
According to Ponemon Institute’s State of Password and Authentication Security Behaviors Report, 35% of respondents have experienced a takeover of their accounts. The same report reveals that 51% of employees share passwords with their colleagues at work, and 14% do so for business reasons. This is where password managers come in to play.
According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, 8% of data compromises in the first quarter of 2022 were a result of system and human errors, both of which password managers can help prevent.
Other benefits include:
With many password managers available, finding the right solution can be quite challenging. Look out for some of these password manager features to know you’ve selected the right one.
Zero trust is a cybersecurity framework that secures an organization by validating each stage of digital interaction. Using platforms that follow this framework helps ensure that only legitimate users will have access to your systems, greatly reducing your organizational risk.
The zero-trust framework also enforces strict user authentication and least-privilege access, which restricts user access to resources that are necessary for the successful completion of tasks in a given role. According to Enterprise Strategy Group’s (ESG) Zero Trust Impact Report, 72% of organizations already implement zero trust or are in the process of adopting it.
Software compliance regulations ensure a certain standard across all solutions and may vary depending on industry and location. Gartner predicts that compliance policies across multiple industries will expand in the next two years.
Here are some standards your password manager should comply with:
An ideal password manager works cross-platform, which includes mobile devices, tablets and PCs. Any password management solution you’re considering has to be compatible with the Operating System (OS) on all your devices.
For example, the Keeper app is available for download on the Mac, Linux or Windows OS for desktops, and on the App store and Play store for mobile devices. Users can install the KeeperFill browser extension to use the password autofill feature.
A password vault is the part of a password manager that actually stores the passwords for multiple applications. Password managers must have encryption, which scrambles credentials and makes them unreadable by attackers. Also, providers must store your password in its encrypted form as this makes them unable to access your credentials as well.
Password managers can fill credentials into sites that match records in your vault. This feature prevents password practices that risk security such as credential reuse or weak passwords. For this process to work, a password manager should have a browser extension that autofills passwords.
Keeper’s separate browser extension — a customer favorite — recognizes sites and apps that you save within your vault and automatically fills in your credentials.
Weak passwords defeat the purpose of a password manager. A good password manager should have a password generator that offers unique combinations and enables individuals to choose the length and complexity of their credentials.
Multi-Factor Authentication is a layered approach to security that requires a user to present various credentials to verify their identity. In addition to your regular username and password, you’ll need another factor such as an authenticator app or a Time-Based One-Time Password (TOTP) to prove you are who you say you are.
According to research by Microsoft, MFA can prevent 99.9% of account compromise attacks. A reliable password manager should require 2FA or MFA in addition to your master password before providing access to your account.
You need to set up your password manager properly to get the most out of it and stay secure. These three steps are standard with most password management solutions:
The day-to-day use of the system is usually through a browser extension or mobile application. When you open your browser or app, your password manager should prompt you to log into your account using a master password.
Keeper is an easy-to-use password manager that is built with a proprietary zero-trust architecture and end-to-end encryption to secure your credentials.
Curious as to how Keeper can meet your credential security needs? Try our password management tool for free.
Yes, you can and you should. Password managers are not for securing computers only. You can safely store and share credentials on other devices such as phones and tablets.
A password manager that has no access to the encryption key that can unlock the content of your vault is zero knowledge. This principle aims to guarantee the security of credentials since the designers of the solution cannot access your data.
A password management system is a solution that facilitates a safe and simple way of storing, sharing and retrieving credentials from an encrypted vault.
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