Solutions to the password problem, Part 2
There’s an app called LastPass that can help you manage logins
Passwords are one of those essential, but irritating aspects of using the internet.
In my last column I outlined some ways to record your multiple passwords so that they would be secure and accessible.
This week I’ll turn my attention to creating unique passwords, checking how secure they are, and discovering if they have been possibly compromised.
When you are asked to create an account at a website your user name will usually be your email address, which is unavoidable and not very secure. That’s why the password, passcode or PIN you create must be almost impossible to easily guess, such as your address or date of birth, and be different for every website. Don’t let a hacker use your one repeated password to log in to other websites.
The browser you use, such as Google Chrome, Firefox or Microsoft’s Edge, can automatically record your logins and insert them automatically for you at websites.
A little-known feature is that if you right click in the password box when creating an account with Chrome or Firefox the browser will give you a choice of using a complex password created by the browser. For this to work you need to be signed in to the browser, which you do by clicking on the little head icon in the upper right of the browser window.
Your logins and passwords will be saved in the browser and in the cloud and synced to your other devices on which you have logged in to the same browser. This is i mportant since if your computer or browser crashes you can recover the passwords from the cloud backup.
Firefox has a service called Monitor (monitor.firefox.com) which will search for your email address in all known website security breaches since 2007. If your address and login were compromised in a recent breach it might be wise to go to the website, change your password, and make sure the password is not reused at any other websites. The Monitor website is also invaluable for its extensive and well-explained security tips.
If you use the Chrome browser, Google also has a Security Checkup site which you can access by going into the password settings in Chrome, or by navigating directly to the security check up website( my account.google.com/intro/security-checkup). It will tell you how many of your saved passwords have been compromised in hack sat websites, the strength of your passwords, and how many times you reused the same logins.
Microsoft’s Edge has a similar feature called password monitor planned for the near future. To see if it’s available in Edge, click on the three horizontal dots at the top right of the browser and go into settings where you may see the feature in the passwords section.
All of these features are relatively new in internet browsers but have been available for quite some time in a free password managing app for your computer and mobile devices. It’s called LastPass (www.lastpass.com) which is a play on the idea that your LastPass master password will be the last one you have to remember.
You download and install the LastPass app which puts an icon on your browser toolbar. When you need to register for an online account the LastPass app takes over and generates a secure, complicated password, although you can use your own creation.
It will also save all of your logins for all of your existing accounts. Your credentials are saved in the LastPass app with high security and on the LastPass servers at the company’s website. To automatically log in to any website enter your one LastPass master password. You can see all of your passwords and manage them at the LastPass website by using your secure account login.
LastPass claims that more than 26 million people use its service and that your account details and passwords are encrypted on its website and even its employees cannot access the information. Of course, the one absolute necessity is to safely record that one master password in case you ever forget it.