The Necessity of Password Managers

Welcome to our fourth installment, everyone. Come on in, the water’s fine. By now, I hope that all of you are making small but meaningful changes in your digital habits in order to better protect yourself. This includes: using the more secure Brave browser; using a VPN for everyday browsing; securing your home router; practicing “The 10 Commandments of Digital Security”; maintaining on- and off-site backups of your most precious data; and setting up two-factor authentication protection for your email, social media, and Amazon and Apple accounts.

Let me and the others who read this column know how the transition has gone for you: Leave your questions, experiences, and thoughts in the comments section. I’ll chime in as often as I can.

In the meantime, let’s dig into one of the most overlooked aspects of our online lives from a more human and historical perspective.

The Password Problem

Historically, humans are creatures of habit, and thank goodness for that. By learning about time and the seasons, we developed the habit of when to plant and harvest our food. By learning about the power of germs, we developed the habit of washing our hands. Our ability to develop habits has allowed our species to proliferate on the planet. In today’s digitally interconnected world, however, our habits have also become a massive liability. And nowhere is this liability more glaring than with the most humble cybersecurity tool of them all: the password.