One question I get asked more often than not is “what do you use for …” so I have decided that I should write a series of short articles on the software I use and why I use it to solve various problems within the business and beyond.
I thought I would start with Passwords, they are absolutely the bane of all our lives. Everything you login into these days needs a password. Before you’ve had a chance to look round you have dozens of them and it’s quite often more than your brain can cope with. It’s certainly the case for me! Most browsers, google chrome, internet explorer etc will all provide some way to save the passwords. But this doesn’t always help if you use multiple browsers or multiple machines/devices or if you get a new computer.
Choosing a password tool
This is where a password tool really does come into its own, there are lots to choose from 1Password, LastPass, Password Keeper to name but a few of the more popular ones and what do I use? I use Dashlane, you might not have even heard of this one. But I have found it to be a lot more business friendly. Also for my line of work it has some extra features that I wouldn’t be without.
The main benefit, for me, was the fact that it is completely browser independent. It works within all the main browsers Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer. It also works on my iPhone (Android is covered too) with automated password entry.
Added features that really attracted me were secure notes. A way to save details that aren’t just passwords i.e., License keys for a client, server details, Wifi Passwords and even door codes. The notes are secured and need the master password to get at them, so they are double “locked”.
It also has separate list of accounts for business use and personal use. Being able to share passwords with other users on my account is very useful. For example, my virtual assistant can login to any of my suppliers without needing to know the passwords as Dashlane just “auto fills” the details for her. She can’t see the password or change it – but she still has access to the site.
Managing multiple logins
For sites where I have multiple logins (as I am managing accounts for clients) it remembers all the logins and presents a “list” of logins when I get to the site. I just specify the one I need, and it’ll populate the details into the site for me.
Like many password tools it will also generate passwords and automatically changes the passwords on some of the more popular sites for you (assuming you’re not running 2FA as well). So unless you unlock the password and look at it – you won’t even know the login!!
Furthermore, it now does “dark web” monitoring. It looks for sites that you use and that could have been compromised by a website breach. Dashlane then lets you know which site was breached and what details the breachers got. It also looks for any other sites that are using the same username and password combination.
