Passwords are essential to avoid intruders in any account, be it a social network, email or any online service. If you do things right, you should ideally have a key for each record. But of course, that means having to remember all of them or store it somewhere safe. In this article we are going to talk about it. We are going to explain where to store passwords securely.
How to save passwords securely
It is important that an access key is completely random. That’s going to make it hard to remember, and it’s a good idea to store them safely. There you will have different options, but it is important that you do not make mistakes. We are going to tell you three possible solutions and you will see that some are more traditional than others. They all have their positive and weak points.
Use a password manager
Undoubtedly the most common thing today is to use a password manager . There you can save all kinds of keys to access your social networks, mail, etc. They are of different types. Some managers are online, which means you can access passwords from anywhere. Others, on the other hand, are offline and you only access them locally, from the computer or mobile where you have them stored.
The positive thing is that there are many programs available , they are easy to use and also if it is an online password manager you will be able to access it from anywhere. The downside is that in many cases there have been vulnerabilities and passwords have been exposed. Especially those who are online may have more problems.
It is essential that you choose a good key manager. For example, 1Password and LastPass are two of the most popular. However, you should always look for information to avoid problems.
Save them in an external memory
Another option that you have available is to save the passwords in an external memory . For example a microSD card, a flash drive, etc. This can be useful as you can always carry them with you and use them when you need to remember a password for something specific. But of course, this also has its risks.
If we talk about the best possible scenario, the interesting thing would be to have a device without connecting to the network. For example an old computer , a Tablet, etc. In this way, you can connect a card with the passwords and update them when necessary. You are not going to take any risk at the computer level, since that computer is not connected to the Internet and they could not steal the keys.
In addition, you always have the option to encrypt the memory and further increase security. You would have a flash drive, for example, with a file inside with all the passwords and also encryption. If you use it on a computer that is not connected to the network and that you have only for things like that, the risk is minimal.
A piece of paper, the simplest option
You also have the option of using one role with all the keys. Logically you should be careful with it and somehow protect it as you would protect your money, jewelry or anything. It’s something used by a lot of people who don’t trust password managers too much. You basically write the keys there and make sure to store it safely.
It is clear that with this alternative you are not going to suffer a cyber attack that could steal your keys. It is something totally physical and nobody would have access beyond that they can see where you have the paper and take it.
In short, these are some options you have to store passwords securely. Which one do you prefer? Never make the mistake of saving them in a file on your computer or mobile, for example. There are better alternatives like these that we have seen, each with its weak and strong points.
