The password-based security model at present has been constantly besieged by a string of cyber attacks that come in the form of brute-force and persistent password guessing. That is why many key players in the industry keep working to transition the online identity security infrastructure to more sophisticated models such as biometrics and other methods. However, these technologies are still far from reaching worldwide application, and as such many Internet users still rely on the password at large.
Yes, it has been proven time and again that the password is no longer enough to secure our online accounts and identities as hackers continue to advance their attacks against critical infrastructure. But whether we like it or not, our online lives still heavily depend upon this method of verification when logging in.
It is, therefore, of utmost concern that we secure these critical keys to our online accounts by implementing certain best practices. And by that is meant using highly complex passwords that are hard to guess and using them on a single account only, which means we must use different passwords for different online accounts. But then there lies another dilemma: using various complex passwords present the difficulty of keeping them in mind.
Thankfully, the industry has created applications called password managers so that Internet users only need to memorize a single master password in order to gain access to a number of other passwords for unlocking different online accounts. But even password managers are not a one-size-fits-all solution. There are various considerations when choosing which app to use.
Some password managers only work to store passwords in browsers. Others function to sync passwords throughout various devices and computers so a user could be spared from entering log-in details all the time. Still other password managers come in the form of browser plug-ins and stand-alone apps. However, caution must be taken when handling these password managers because, after all, they remain reliant on passwords, in this case a master password.
Synchronization of passwords is made possible by cloud-based models of password management. In considering this type of password manager users must be able to know how service providers store their data and must ensure that only they, the owner of the password, have access to the password stored in the server.
There are also models of password managers that store only the encrypted form of data and these pieces of information are transmitted to the user’s browser when he tries to access a certain account. This model is more secure because password is decrypted only when the user enters the master password upon logging in.
Plus there’s the added layer of security from two-factor authentication that applies to master passwords in password manager apps.
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