Can’t Remember All Your Passwords? Forget About It With This One Easy Tool

Identity theft is on the rise and strong passwords are our greatest defense against hackers and cybercriminals. Digital security experts say that the strongest passwords are long and complex, but these days passwords are necessary to access just about everything we use online.

Social media, food delivery, movie tickets — all these services require passwords. Studies show that the average person has to keep track of 100 logins — how do people do it?

The sad answer is that most people reuse one password or a handful of passwords for everything they do online. Although this makes passwords easy to remember, it also creates less of a barrier to hackers. All they have to do is crack the code for one of your passwords, then suddenly they have access to most — if not all — of your online accounts. This means that a hacker who gained access to your Facebook account could be only a few keyboard strokes away from finding your banking or credit card information, not to mention your social security number.

There’s no better time than now to beef up your online digital security, and the easiest way to do that is with a password manager.

For those who don’t know, a password manager is a program designed to keep passwords organized and secure. The manager also generates long, complex passwords to ensure that any new or reset passwords you use are as difficult to hack as possible. The best part is that you only need to remember the password that opens the password manager. Then, when you’re using a site that requires a login, you just use the manager to automatically populate your saved username and password.

The best password managers work across all operating services and devices, whether you have an iPhone or an Android or a Mac or a PC or some combination. They also sync easily across devices so you can access all your passwords whether you’re at home, school, work, or even on vacation.

To get started, you just need to pick a password manager, create an account, make any necessary payments, and download the software. There are several great options out there, but 1Password makes the top of most lists thanks to its robust encryption and security policies. It does charge a monthly fee, however, so if you’re looking for a free option Bitwarden is also an excellent choice. While it lacks some of the elegance of 1Password, it excels at ensuring your passwords remain safe and secure.

Regardless of which password manager you choose, keeping your passwords from getting into the hands of hackers is more important — and easier — now than ever.