Protecting your personal information online relies on passwords at every turn. So it’s no surprise the concept has been around since long before digital security. Look back to Ancient Rome, where soldiers have been documented to use “watchwords,” or to medieval guilds, where passwords were used to demonstrate belonging to a particular guild affiliation.
But today’s technological age means passwords are ubiquitous, protecting everything from your finances to your entertainment options. Using them to access so many cross-sections of your daily life makes remembering them all difficult.
Ready for something better? Stop trying to do everything yourself and let Google’s Password Manager do the work. It creates, stores, and manages your passwords so you don’t have to. Not only does the Password Manager provide the convenience of keeping all of your information in one place, it also has some of the strongest protection against password leaks and phishing. Google’s Password Manager works by keeping all of your information safe inside your Google Account, which is protected by Google’s advanced, industry-leading security.
To add to password pressure, we’re often reminded of the importance of creating a unique password for each site. If this isn’t something you do, you’re not alone: 66 percent of people reuse the same password for multiple accounts, and 13 percent of people reuse that password for all of their accounts. Mark Risher, senior director of product management at Google who focuses on security, explains how hackers get through systems: “If you use the same password on many different sites, then a hacker only has to break into one of them to gain access to everything else.” That’s right, if one of your passwords is stolen, as Mark says, “they just got the keys to the kingdom.”
This is where Password Checkup, a built-in function of Password Manager, comes in. Password Checkup can review your weak or reused saved passwords and Google will let you know if they find that one has been compromised so you can change it immediate.
What makes Google so uniquely positioned for your “checkup”?
“Google has the scale to roll out Password Checkup to billions of users in a way that integrates with account security tools on which many people already rely,” explains Risher. “One of the reasons that I trust Google’s Password Manager is because it’s backed by the Google Account security systems... Nobody’s getting in there without going through many, many lines of defense.”
The number of unique, complex passwords you need today is nearly impossible to memorize, and that makes using a password manager key. But looking forward, Google sees a world in which we don’t have to memorize or store passwords, as new technologies like biometrics and secure device authentication could replace passwords entirely. Until then? Try leaning on Google’s Password Manager.
Let’s make your life safer and hackers’ lives harder.