Tech Advisor - UK (2021-05)

90 TECH ADVISOR • MAY 2021

GUIDE TO PC SECURITY

you’relookingtoupyoursecuritygame,

a passwordmanageris thewaytogo.

Yes,webbrowsersarestartingtooffer

passwordmanagementfeatures,but

they’renotgoodenough.

Butpasswordmanagersvarywidely

in theircapabilitiesandcost.Allsupport

WindowsmacOS,AndroidandiOS,as

wellasthemajorbrowsers.Andallwill

letyousyncyourdataacrossmultiple

devices,thoughyoumayhavepay

extrafortheprivilege.

WHATTOLOOKFORIN

A PASSWORDMANAGER

Attheirmostbasic,passwordmanagers

captureyourusernameandpassword

• usuallyviaa browserplug-in– when
  youlogin toa website,andthen
  automaticallyfill in your credentialswhen
  youreturntothatsite.Theystoreallyour
  passwordsin anencrypteddatabase,
  oftenreferredtoasa ‘vault’,whichyou
  protectwitha singlemasterpassword.
  Ofcourse,mostpasswordmanagers
  domuchmorethanthisandmany
  extendprotectionbeyondyourlogin
  credentialstoothertypesofpersonal
  data.Wenarrowedit downtoa few
  essentialfeaturesthatwelookedfor
  andyou should too:

Password generation: You’ve been

reminded ad nauseam that the strongest

passwords are long, random strings of

characters, and that you should use a

different one for each site you access.

That’s a tall order. This is what makes

password generation – the ability to

create complex passwords out of letters,

numbers, and special characters – an

indispensable feature of any good

password manager. The best password

managers will also be able to analyse

your existing passwords for weaknesses

and upgrade them with a click.

Autofill and auto-login: Most password

managers can autofill your login

credentials whenever you visit a site

and even log you in automatically.

Thus, the master password is the

onlyoneyoueverhavetoenter.This

is controversial,though,asbrowser

autofillhas long been a security

concern,so the best managers will also

let you toggle off this feature if you feel

the risk outweighs the convenience.

Secure sharing: Sometimes you need

tosharea passwordwitha family

memberor co-worker. A password

manager should let you do so without

compromising your security.

Two-factor authentication: To an

enterprising cybercriminal, your

password manager’s master password