Password Managers: Saviors or Silent Threats?

Password manager is a tool that can be used to generate, store and manage passwords for different applications or websites a person uses. It requires users to only remember one master password (Alodhyani 2020).

There are many pros and cons to use a password manager. Let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of using a password manager.

PROS

1. Enhanced Security: A password manager allows you to generate strong and unique passwords. This makes your password more secure and harder to break by threat actors (Alodhyani 2020).
2. Protection Against Phishing: If you are using a password manager that has a browser extension and auto-fill feature, it will automatically populate the password on a trusted link. This can help avoid being a victim of phishing attempts (Alodhyani 2020).
3. User Education: Password manager vendors often educate users about the importance of being cyber safe and habits that can keep them safe online. This user awareness can help in ensuring that the user doesn’t fall victim to a cyber-attack (Alodhyani 2020).

CONS

1. Single Point of Failure: Unfortunately, as all of one’s passwords can be stored in one place, it can be very dangerous. If someone gets their hands on the master password, then all of the passwords stored in the password manager can be compromised (Alodhyani 2020).
2. Target for Cyberattacks: Password managers can be a frequent target for the threat actors as the reward of winning can be huge. With cracking one master password, one can in theory gain access to many passwords. This makes them an attractive target (Alodhyani 2020).
3. Device Vulnerabilities: If there is a vulnerability in the password manager or the device on which it is stored, then the data can be exposed or compromised. This can be risky as it can give access to all of the passwords and sensitive information stored on there (Alodhyani 2020).

While this is not a exhaustive list of pros and cons, one should keep them in mind when deciding whether to use a password manager or not. I do personally think that password managers have helped me a lot in keeping myself secure online. But then LastPass, the software I use was also compromised. 🙁

REFERENCES
Alodhyani, F., Theodorakopoulos, G., & Reinecke, P. (2020). Password managers—it’s all about trust and tra

References
Alodhyani, F., Theodorakopoulos, G., & Reinecke, P. (2020). Password managers—it’s all about trust and transparency. Future Internet, 12(11), 1–50. https://doi.org/10.3390/fi12110189