As technology advances and users access more software and websites, the need for security and protection against unwanted intruders is increasing as well. Password vault technology is a great way to protect all individual’s passwords and keep them in one place, only requiring the individual to remember one password to access all his or her passwords.
What is a password vault?
As mentioned above, password vault technology allows for the individual to store all their sensitive credentials and other sensitive data in a secure environment – the user only has to remember one password. The system is designed to store, generate and manage (update, share and edit) passwords and other credentials in a secure environment. The manager also has the ability to generate truly secure passwords. These passwords are then stored in an encrypted storage, unreachable to malicious adversaries.
The different types of passwords managers
There are three types of password managers that are available:
- Software applications that are installed and store the passwords locally (self-hosted password managers)
- Services that store passwords on an encrypted cloud-based web app and allow an individual to access their data locally, wherever they are
- A mix of these two – for example, password management applications that are stored on a private cloud, hosted by the client. In this case, data owners purchase the license to use the cyber security software and host it on their own private cloud.
These various password managers have a different way of storing a user’s passwords. The encrypted databases that the passwords are stored on can either be stored locally on the individual’s device, server or cloud. As mentioned previously, the password manager will require the individual to have one password, known as the master password, to access all the other passwords. This makes it ideal for individuals to only remember one strong password. Some password managers allow an individual to save other important information such as credit card information and frequently used credentials (name, address, etc.). This is convenient for user’s when filling out login forms, purchases, insurance and other kinds of information online.
Locally installed software
This password technology is commonly found on the individual’s personal devices such as, computer, mobile phone, tablet or a local server that the software can be hosted on. This password technology can be accessed offline as the passwords are on the database that is stored on an independent device that is locally located on the same device as the password technology. This is a key feature and makes locally installed password managers popular among cyber security experts, as they often would rather have passwords and other sensitive data, bank cards, notes that should be secured and other important stuff on the device itself. By having the data on the local user’s device, it allows the user to have complete control over the data that was stored on the database. This protects from hackers trying to steal a user’s information as it’s not held on a remote server for hackers to try and gain unauthorised access to. This would mean that the hacker would have to target a specific person or organization rather than just going on a database and trying their luck.
Web-based services
Passwords can be stored on a web app online that allows logins details to be stored on the cloud securely. These are known as web based versions of password vault technology. One key feature of having a web-based password vault technology is that they can be accessible remotely. This is because the service is web based, it can generally be accessed on any device that has a network connection and a web browser without the need to install the software on the device. This can reduce the risk of losing the information that an individual has installed on one personal device. However it is worth noting that storage of sensitive information on a cloud server/web based password vault technology has its own risks associated with it. The user choosing such a solution should do their own due diligence. A user should check whether encryption, authentication, secure storage and data transfer technologies that the password vault technology is based on are up-to-date, to ensure the user’s sensitive data is stored and accessed securely.
Private-cloud services
Some (albeit, it’s still pretty rare) password vault technology solutions can also be licensed and hosted by organizations purchasing such services. This means that the companies are in control of where their data is stored and managed, while keeping all the convenience of ability to access the information in remote locations. However, deploying password vault technology on a private cloud does have significant costs and resource requirements allocated to it – namely server costs, upkeep and maintenance costs, as well as internal support requirements.
PassCamp
PassCamp has some key principles that every password vault technology should go by. It’s all about privacy and security. The company wants the user and only the user to have the option to access and share their sensitive data. This means that the user, the owner of the sensitive information, is in control of his data to be viewed or modified by others if, and only if the owner of the sensitive data permits this.
Integrity is another key aspect. PassCamp wants to ensure that the sensitive data is not being tampered with or being accessed and altered by unauthorised individuals. When data is changed or modified, the owner automatically signs off on the change before the change can be accepted by PassCamp.
Accessibility, another important key principle that is prevalent in PassCamp password vault. This means allowing authorised users to access their data whenever and wherever the individual is. All of the user’s data is stored on an encrypted cloud service allowing the user to access the data as long as they have an internet connection.
PassCamp is built on unique password vault technology. Unlike in any other password management software, each item is stored in its own separate vault. This architecture allows an organization to manage access to their sensitive data much more securely and efficiently.