Let’s be real. Passwords do secure our accounts, but it’s a mess to keep them organized without being locked into a particular browser’s ecosystem. Nearly 32% of people currently choose to save their passwords in a browser and yet remain constantly worried. 90% of Internet users are worried about getting their passwords hacked. 

Forget about personal accounts. Maintaining (resetting/ storing/ revising) passwords on work accounts consume an average of 12.6 minutes per week for employees. That’s actual productivity time being lost on something that should ideally be painless and automatic. If you are someone who likes to switch between browsers, devices and ecosystems – it can be a tedious and redundant task to save your passwords multiple times across devices/ browsers. Managed IT Services Vancouver has detailed resources on leading password hygiene and store practices. 

The anxiety is shown in statistics. Recent studies show that 53% of people rely on their memory to manage passwords, and 51% of people use redundant passwords (same or, at least of a very similar pattern) for both work and personal accounts. Even worse, nearly a quarter of users continue to write down their passwords in spreadsheets despite all security advice to the contrary. There is a reason why 23 million account holders still use “123456” as their password. People are being forced to use insecure methods of password storage whenever they have to move from their main browser/ device. 

Here we present;

Top 8 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Use Browser-Based Password Managers:

So what’s one to do to get out of this mess? The easiest way out is to use a reputed third-party password manager. They offer better security through industry-standard encryption, easy accessibility, password customization, password sharing, and the ability to store much more of everyday use data than just passwords and payment cards.

However, escaping the clutches of browser-based password managers can be difficult, just like changing any habit, but it’s not impossible. To start with, you can back up your saved passwords. This can prove to be the most difficult step as browser-based password managers typically do not make it easy to export saved credentials. Once you have successfully managed to back up your passwords, you can further choose to delete all saved passwords, turn off password saving, and syncing.  

About Sam Goh:

Sam Goh is the President at ActiveCo Technology Management, a Managed IT support Vancouver company. Sam comes from an operational perspective, his tenure at ActiveCo emphasizes working with customers to closely understand their business plans and to successfully incorporate the technology component to those plans. Under his leadership, ActiveCo has developed expertise which focuses on enriching the extensive customer relationships by integrating strategic and operational focus areas through consulting. When Sam and his wife Candee aren’t running ActiveCo, they enjoy road trips with their 2 children. Faith, family, friends and philanthropy lie at the heart of Sam’s personal beliefs.