If you spend any time online you probably manage passwords for many accounts.  If you are like the majority of internet users, you are using the same password for multiple things.  The point I would like to get across today is that this is a terrible practice.  It’s time to use good passwords.  We will make it easy.

Why should you care about passwords?

Let’s say you use your password on a blog or news site and that site has a data breach.  It is hacked and the usernames, emails, and passwords are now public information.  What if you use that same password for your email account?  The hackers now have access to all your accounts.  All they need to do is log into your email and click that Forgot Password link on any other site.  Seconds later they can reset your password and they are in your account.  What if you do online banking?  Let’s not think about the hackers in your bank account because there are some easy ways to safely and easily manage your passwords.

What can you do?

The best way to keep track of passwords is to use a password manager.  One excellent option is LastPass.  There is a free version that may work for you if you only use one platform.  By that, I mean that you could use it on just your laptop but it won’t carry over to your phone.  That might be enough for you.  The premium version works across multiple platforms for $2 a month, billed as $24 per year.  It will securely store your passwords and let you access them from your laptop, tablet or phone.  Another excellent feature is that it can generate good passwords for you to use.  All you have to do is remember one good password and LastPass will take care of the rest.

There are a number of other password managers, such as DashLane, KeePass, True Key, Keeper, Sticky Password and 1Password.  I mention these just to let you know they exist.  LastPass is our recommendation because of their list of features, ease of use and affordable price.

Are there any other options?

If you are not convinced to use LastPass, or any other password manager, please find another way to not use the same password for everything.  Chrome, Safari, Edge and most other browsers support AutoFill that will save form data, such as addresses.  Yes, it will also save passwords.  While we prefer a dedicated password manager, that is a decent option.  You will still need to come up with good passwords on your own though.

If you still don’t want to do that, then even a piece of paper with all your passwords could work.  Just store it somewhere safe, like your wallet.

The next step is to go through your accounts and change your passwords so that each one is unique.