If you've been following me or reading for a bit, you know I'm am a network center engineer by day, run a website business of my own, and also teach coding classes to kids. Sounds like alot, right? With all of these roles, come ALOT of systems, and ALOT of passwords. Me working in IT doesn't come with some magical ability to remember passwords, if anything it makes it worse because there are more to remember. But I've happily found a solution to that...a password manager...specifically..Keeper Security.
So what exactly is a password manager?
It's exactly what it sounds like, it helps you manage your passwords, securely. It stores your passwords in a digital encrypted vault.
Keeper Security stores and manages my passwords for any accounts that I have; not to mention my family. I have a teenager with multiple accounts of his own, virtual learning access, online gaming, social accounts, email and then some. And at his age, remembering complex passwords isn't high on his priority list.
Ok but what else does it do? I can store my passwords in other ways...
First off while I'm sure you've got a well organized note, or journal or some other way that you're managing your password, but that's just not secure. Anyone can find it, it can get accidentally tossed in the trash, coffee spill, did I mention that it isn't secure?? With Keeper I'm able to store my passwords in an encrypted vault, what's better I can organize my password records into folders, so accounts I use for my business in one, my personal accounts in another.
Keeper Dashboard
Keeper also has an app that allows me easy and on the go access to my vault, clearly we're all on our phones more so this is great. I rarely log into the desktop. The app also integrates with biometric authentication aka FaceID me please! I mean fingerprint scanning is also option but since iPhone got rid of the home button *shrugs*.
Keeper app screen from my iPhone
Active protection for your accounts
Not only does it store my passwords, it also performs scans of the dark web to see if any of my logins or information has been involved in a data breach. You know those things you find out about months after they happen via a letter in the mail. It'll alert me and I can change my password in my vault, and of course then on the site I use it on. Not only that it performs security audits of the credentials I have stored, tells me the last time it was changed and the strength of the password. It also tells you which accounts have reused passwords. *Remember I told y'all about reusing passwords??*
Keeper Security Audit dashboard
Passwords aren't the only thing you can store in Keeper, I can upload files, like documents and pictures, and there's a secure sharing feature. So if there's a need to share something sensitive with a team member or a family member you can do so right from inside your vault. Because I know usually people will share them via email, text file, etc, but this is so much better. Oh and if you're like alot of older people I know and your passwords are scribbled on envelopes, scrap paper or in a notepad, there's hope! You can scan the paper and Keeper will use OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to transcribe it into the notes of your record for safe keeping.
Security...AND Convenience..Yes please!
Web Access *check*, Mobile App *check* but I tend to move between different systems pretty fast and often, so while some systems will keep you logged in, what do you do when that system logs you out? Or when you delete your cookies and cache to resolve a browser issue? You gotta get those passwords again right? Keeper has a browser extension that'll fill your passwords in for you, Keeper Fill. I know there's already a function in Chrome that does this but the Keeper Fill extension works across multiple browsers. So I get that convenience and security even if I'm using Internet Explorer or Opera (not a performance, that's another web browser lol)
This has literally been a lifesaver for me, helping me keep up with what seems like a never-ending list of passwords and I don't have to hit the "forgot password" button anymore. My favorite feature is probably the password generator right there, because I suck and coming up with unique passwords lol. Keeper doesn't alot either, for less than $5/month you get all these features. It's cheaper than Netflix! You can sign up here
Do you use a password manager already? Got questions? Let me know!
*This post is sponsored but opinions and experiences are my own*