John Paul M. Joaquin Tech 03.16.2023 19:Mar PM EDT

The Pros and Cons of Using a Password Manager

We've heard countless times not to use the same password for different accounts, but for the average joe, coming up with unique passwords for different sites every time is difficult.

Not only is memorizing passwords difficult and tiresome, but it also takes a lot of time to remember each password made, especially if you don't use that site often enough.

Thankfully, humanity now has password managers that can do the memorizing for us. However, there are benefits and drawbacks to putting every single password you could think of in a password manager.

(Photo : Leon Neal/Getty Images)
Cyber Security Concerns In The Global Wake of Hacking Threat LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 09: In this photo illustration, the logo for online password manager service "LastPass" is reflected on the internal discs of a hard drive on August 09, 2017 in London, England. With so many aspects of life requiring passwords and login information, password managers are becoming increasingly popular among consumers and businesses. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Password Managers - What Are They?

But before we dive into that, we must define what a password manager is. According to Malware Bytes, a password manager is a software application designed to store and manage log-in credentials, allowing people to access their profiles easily without the need to memorize them.

These applications could also protect your login credentials from would-be hackers and cybercriminals if they are advanced enough to have an encrypted database, which is locked with a master password.

As a result, you would now need to remember the master password instead of all the passwords you made for all your online profiles.

Password Managers - The Pros

Needless to say, password managers are convenient as it solves the need to memorize numerous passwords. All you need to do is remember the master password, and you'll be auto-filling every login page before you can even click "Forgot my password."

Password managers also protect your login credentials from would-be hackers and cybercriminals trying to access your various online profiles, giving you another layer of protection against hacking attempts other than two-factor authentication.

Additionally, most, if not all, password managers are compatible with mobile devices and others - another point to a password manager's convenience as you won't have to worry about accessing it from your original device to retrieve your login credentials while using your phone, per Kelser.

Most importantly, you don't have to share your passwords with family members and friends through conventional methods anymore, such as messaging your passwords to them or writing them down on a sheet of paper, per Trustworthy. Instead, you can share your password with them through your password manager.

Password Managers - The Cons

Using password managers is all well and good considering the benefits it brings to people, but there are also some drawbacks to using them.

You may remember that a password manager requires only a single master password to access all the login credentials you have. This issue presents a single point of failure that could spell your doom if you're not careful enough with your master password.

Should a hacker guess your password or has somehow got ahold of it, then your password manager would be an open book to them. Similarly, if you forgot your master password, then you couldn't use the passwords saved within it.

Using two-factor authentication cancels out this drawback somewhat, but a good hacker could socially engineer you into giving access to them if they're smart enough. Additionally, not all password managers have two-factor authentication.

Furthermore, some password managers don't work with all websites, requiring you to trigger the password manager manually or input your login credentials without the help of one.

Finally, it provides a false sense of security to users, lulling them into believing that their passwords are safe regardless of the links they open on the internet, per Password Boss.

As a result, users may stop practicing phishing awareness just because they feel like their credentials are protected, unware that they could have provided their login credentials to hackers by being tricked into logging into a fake replica of the website they frequent.