The Average Number of Passwords Has Risen to 100 During the Pandemic
How many passwords do you have? We are talking here about every single account and profile you own and access using a password. And how many unique passwords do you use? It is unlikely that these numbers match. Most likely, you have reused/recycled at least some of them. It might also be impossible for you to count all of your accounts and passwords if, like an average human online, you have around one hundred of them. This is not the number of passwords that people had at the beginning of the year, and it was recently discovered that, on average, 25 passwords were added to the mix during the pandemic. Without a doubt, the more passwords there are, the harder it is to manage and secure them. But it does not need to be that way.
People added 25 new passwords during the pandemic
During the pandemic, people found themselves needing to register new accounts so that they could shop for groceries, work remotely, join Zoom conferences, attend online classes, or even discuss issues with virtual health practitioners. Due to this, it is no wonder that the number of passwords in use has risen from around 75, on average, to now 100. Everyone keeps talking about the passwordless future, and we are sure that a day will come when we will no longer need to rely on passwords as much as we do today. However, biometric authentication is not fully developed or embraced, new vulnerabilities and security concerns come up all the time, and the technology is not yet up to the standards. Needless to say, it would make no sense for, let’s say, a bank to force its online customers to employ facial recognition if not all computers and mobile devices have the sensors to recognize facial features or if not all facial recognition tools are trusted.
People are sticking to passwords for now. Of course, that comes with a different set of problems. The thing is that passwords can be very secure; however, most people do not take advantage of that. For example, if you create a unique password from, let’s say, 15 unique characters that include special characters (e.g., @, #, $, %, &), numbers, upper-case and lower-case letters, but do not include whole words, memorable dates, or addresses, those 15 characters should protect you very well. Sure, if you entrusted this password with a company that is not able to protect it appropriately, it could be leaked during a data breach. Hopefully, it is encrypted, and hackers cannot make use of it. But, in general, if you do your part of creating a strong password, and you also take other security precautions (e.g., add two-factor authentication or protection against logins from unfamiliar devices/locations), you can rest assured that that unique password is as strong as it can be.
So, creating strong passwords is not that difficult. The problem is that it is easier to create passwords that are short and memorable. It is even easier to reuse or recycle passwords. If a unique password is reused on a different account, it is no longer unique, and if hackers are able to guess it or steal it during a data breach, all other accounts that have that same password are automatically put in danger. So, even Ld4u$^yP3tC-sBG could be a poor password if you reused it. There’s also a problem with memorizing passwords. If you have 100 passwords, it is easy to forget them even if you choose to recycle, which means that you create passwords with slight modifications (e.g., password1, password2, and so on). Obviously, this practice is extremely precarious, and it is just as easy to hijack accounts with recycled passwords as it is to hijack accounts with reused passwords.
How to manage passwords
If you have ever created a strong and unique password, we are sure that you wondered how to manage your passwords also. Perhaps, at that time, you chose to write down your unique passwords on a piece of paper? Well, what happened to it? Did you put it somewhere safe? Did you just leave it where anyone could find it? In theory, passwords “managed” in that way are only safe if you lock the piece of paper in an actual safe. What about putting down your passwords in an Excel sheet or a notes app on your mobile device? Well, that might be the worst method of password management. If your computer/device is hacked, your passwords could be stolen, or you could simply lose the document/note, forcing you to change all passwords.
Whether you forgot a password, or it was recently breached, you have to change it as soon as possible. Especially in the latter case. So, how do you go about it? You can take matters into your own hands, and you can build a complex password on your own. Or you can implement a password management tool that will take care of that. Password managers are becoming more and more popular, and not without reason. They can help people generate the strongest imaginable passwords. They can keep an eye on reused or recycled passwords and warn to create unique passwords instead. They offer secure vaults for other types of sensitive information (e.g., social security, ID, insurance, credit card numbers, etc.). They can also make it much easier to log into accounts and fill, for example, payment forms online. Basically, if you wonder how to manage passwords, we suggest implementing a password manager.
Cyclonis Password Manager currently offers a 30-day free trial that includes a built-in Password Generator, a Password Analyzer that can help you see which existing passwords require updating, a Private Notes feature, and also a secure, encrypted vault for personal information, such as credit cards, IDs, and profile data. With this tool, you will never need to worry about making sure that you only use strong and unique passwords, and you will be able to stop wondering how to manage passwords in the most efficient and secure way. If you would like to discuss the tool further, leave your questions in the comments section.
