Introduction
From banking sites to shopping apps, you need different login information nearly everywhere you go on the internet. Creating unique and strong passwords can get tricky fast. Some people use simple passwords that are easy to remember, and others memorize one complex password and use it everywhere online. Either option is a recipe for disaster in the form of identity theft or an account takeover, so don’t do it. Instead, use a password manager. (This paragraph taken from PCMag’s article: Why You Need a Password Manager, and How to Choose the Right One.)
Once LastPass started increasing its prices and limiting free use to a single device, I found Bitwarden to be a capable and highly rated (see Bitwarden Review) password manager. I use it every day in my browsers on my laptops and on my mobile phone. It’s a great place to keep passwords and other sensitive information securely in a way it doesn’t get lost. I began recommending it to others and still do. If you’re willing to pay a small annual price, it can also serve as your authenticator app, meaning you don’t need both a password manager and an authenticator app for those websites that require it. It can also generate and store passkeys, a newer technology that allows you to securely sign in without a username and password on website that support it.
Why use a password manager instead of a notebook or spreadsheet? Simply because once you learn to use a password manager, it’s far easier to use. Bitwarden can easily generate a new, unique, strong, typeable password for each website. When you go to log in, it can fill in the username and password for you, eliminating the need to type those accurately. Bitwarden’s security is far greater than you have using a spreadsheet or paper notebook. All data is fully encrypted on your device before being stored on Bitwarden’s cloud servers. The process by which it does that is highly secure and very unlikely to be cracked by hackers.
Instructions
The following coming articles provide assistance in installing and using Bitwarden.
- Installing Bitwarden on Edge
- Installing Bitwarden on Chrome
- Installing Bitwarden on Firefox
- Installing Bitwarden on Android
- Setting up your Bitwarden account