Passwords protect every part of our digital lives, keeping our identity, card details and accounts safe. But it’s tough to choose and remember a different password for dozens of different websites and services.
This is why most people use the same password – or several passwords – for everything.
The problem with this approach is that if one of those websites, apps or services is hacked, your password could be leaked and give someone access to all the accounts that you use that password for.
Using the same password for your bank and for less-secure accounts, such as forums, is therefore extremely risky and something you should address as soon as possible.
But if you have a different password for every account, how can you possibly remember them? The good news is that you don’t have to: a password manager will do it for you. All you need to remember is a single ‘master’ password that unlocks the password manager.
Better still, a password manager can enter usernames and passwords for you, automatically logging you into accounts. There’s no need to copy and paste them each time.
And if you can’t quickly create lots of nice, strong passwords with uppercase letters, numbers and symbols, just let the password manager generate them for you with a simple click or tap.
Avira Password Manager
You might expect that such a service would cost money, but Avira Free Security offers a password manager along with top-notch antivirus software and a VPN, which gives you privacy and security while using the internet. It even includes tools to speed up your computer. And as the name suggests, it’s completely free.
You can install it on your devices: your phone, PC and laptop and the password manager will make all your logins available on all those devices. They’re stored using bank-grade encryption, so they’re safe and sound: only you have the key – the master password.
There’s no need to enter it every time you need to use the password manager as you can instead use your device’s fingerprint scanner or face recognition to sign in almost instantly.
And if you want to add extra security, you can enable two-factor authentication which sends a code to your phone that you’ll enter as well as using your fingerprint or master password.
If some of your accounts require extra login information, such as characters from a memorable word, or hard-to-remember ID numbers, you can store these as secure notes alongside the regular username and password.
Avira Password manager is available for Android, iOS and for Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Opera web browsers. Got a lot of devices? No problem, because Avira Password Manager can be used on as many of them as you like.
Prime
If you like Avira Free Security but want more, take a look at Avira Prime. As well as unlimited VPN usage, Prime also has extra features in its password manager.
For example, it can identify where you’ve used the same password for different accounts so you can change them.
It will also flag up weak passwords that can be made stronger. It will also alert you in real-time if your data is ever leaked online, such as when a website or service is hacked. That way, you’ll be able to change your password much more quickly and prevent any negative consequences.
Usefully, you’ll be notified if an online account is unsecure, just in case any sensitive information is stored on it.
Download Avira Free Security To start using the password manager, simply head to Avira’s website and download Avira Free Security. You can download it for Windows, Android and on your iPhone and iPad.
If you already save passwords to your web browser, they can be imported into the password manager so you don’t have to start from an empty password vault. Plus, every time you log into a new website, Password Manager will offer to save them for you.
From now on, you’ll save time signing into websites and apps, have to remember only one password, yet with the security of different passwords for every account.