Can I Allow a Website to Remember My Password?

Most websites where you need to log in offer the option to remember your username and password. This is a convenient feature because you don’t have to enter your login details every time. For some websites, such as the gym where you sign up for classes, this can be handy. On websites where you have more personal information, like credit card details on an online shopping website or your phone number and email address on your social media account, you may not want to be automatically logged in. If you are using a public computer, never save your passwords and always log out. On your own device, ensure it is not accessible without a password so no one can access your personal information if your computer, tablet, or smartphone is lost or stolen.

Tips for Managing Your Passwords

Memorable Phrase

Use a saying, a line from a song, or another phrase that you can remember well and that is hard to guess or crack. For example: “Prefer U2 than Beethoven’s 6th!” Or: “Do I want a cat or 10 dogs?” If the sentence fits in its entirety (some websites have a maximum number of password characters), you can use it entirely. Otherwise, you can set the first letters of each word as your password. In the first sentence, it becomes PUtB6! Or choose the first 2 letters of each word from your sentence. That becomes in the second sentence Diwaco10d?

Password Manager

You can also use a tool: a password manager. This is a digital ‘safe’ where you can store all your passwords and usernames. You then only need to remember the password of your password manager. And when you visit a website, the password manager automatically fills in your username and password.

You might think it could be dangerous because all your passwords are visible at once if someone cracks the password of your password manager, but an attacker cannot steal all passwords with one attack. This is different from a data breach, where more accounts can be hacked in one attack.

Of course, it is still important to choose a strong password for your password manager. A password manager also automatically generates a strong password for you. You can use most password managers across different devices, such as your computer, tablet, and smartphone.

Here are a few password managers (you will be redirected):

*By clicking on the links, you will be directed to the website in the link. The link opens automatically in a new tab.

Reference Notes:

You may already be aware of my collaboration with the Dutch government and their endorsement of my Information Security PubQuiz. If not, you can read about it here. Regrettably, the government education site that underpins part of my PubQuizzes is not available in English. Therefore, I’ve translated the articles from “veiliginternetten.nl” and “alertonline.nl” and you can read them on my site. The original source for this article, in Dutch, can be found here.