The Strong Silent Type: Password Managers Bridge the Gap Between Convenience and Security

Do you reuse the same passwords over and over again?  Or, do you find yourself creating ever simpler passwords, so they’re easier to remember?  Do you instead use really complicated passwords that you keep on sticky notes around the office?  In the short run, these are easy solutions to password management; but, in the long term, it’s a security loophole that’s bound to come back to bite you. 

The intersection between personal convenience and data security is a password manager.  With a password management tool, you select a master password for your account, then choose passwords for each of your other accounts -- and the password manager will prefill all of those other passwords for you, which will allow you to create passwords that are hypercomplex, without the necessity for memorizing them.  For example, if you’ve logged into your password manager, when you navigate to your Dropbox account, or your Outlook email, or Quickbooks, your secure password will be filled in automatically.  Log out of your password manager, and it’s back to manual entry. 

There is no such thing as a perfect solution for data security; but, password managers allow you to build complex passwords without the need for memorizing them -- and, that eliminates the primary problem related to password security. 

If you want to try a password management service, some popular tools are: LastPass, KeePass, DashLane and 1Password.

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Through a unique partnership between the bar association and Jared Correia’s Red Cave Law Firm Consulting, Vermont Bar Association members now have access to experienced law practice management consultants at a special discounted rate.  To get started, visit Red Cave's Vermont Bar Association landing page, and start running your law practice like a business.