We all have done it. Same password in more than one website. Very weak one. One that has been used for many years and never changed. And each time we need to register for yet another website (Any solution to expunge this ordeal of account registration from our lives is going to be the biggest unicorn – may all entrepreneurs hear that loud!) we use the same one or a simple variation of it. Still very weak and easily guessable.
If you own a small business, you’re probably sharing those passwords over plaintext (email, slack, chat services etc.). With many others. And never changing it.
All this a huge risk. And when we mean risk, you should take a quick look at this – 55 Important Password Statistics You Should Know: 2023 Breaches & Reuse Data – Financesonline.com (archive.org)
Now, the solution is quite simple.
We could definitely use the inbuilt password management features in popular browsers and phone operating systems. One big drawback is that you might not be using the same browsers across all machines and your devices. So, we propose two solutions here.
Bitwarden Password Manager is an open source and free alternative for personal use. All you have to remember is one master password that you create to login to Bitwarden. After that, Bitwarden creates passwords (use 21 characters or more) for every website you want and autofills it for you (configuration needed). It works across major browsers (install the browser version of the app) and across apps on your mobile phones (we use it on iPhones). It syncs the login info across all your devices. Video instructions to install are here: Bitwarden Learning | Bitwarden
If you are a business and you need to share passwords securely amongst your employees or outside your company, Zoho Vault is an inexpensive but powerful solution. If you need help, reach out to us.
Happy and safe 2024!
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