Are Password Managers secure?

I can relate to the frustration every time I hear somebody moan about the number of passwords they’re expected to know, and that every few weeks or months they’re prompted to update their password for access to a particular app or account. So are password managers the solution, or do they introduce risk?

I can't think of a single person who doesn't have to frequently look up their current passwords to gain access to various accounts.

Not only that, but password requirements vary from one account to another. Some have minimum or maximum lengths; some require the use of at least one special character, whilst others do not allow those same characters; some require a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters as well as numbers; some will insist that when you change your password it must not be too similar to the previous one.

This means that using the same password for everything is not possible, but that’s not a good idea anyway. So how do you keep track on your passwords? Paper or a notebook in a drawer at home? A discrete file on your laptop, tablet or phone? Memory?

Or maybe a password manager has crossed your mind.

So how safe and secure are password managers? Can they be hacked? How secure is having several passwords securely protected behind a master password? Are password managers worth the time and effort to set up? Some require a subscription, so is that cost (albeit usually very small) worth it?

I’m sure we all have our opinions and many of us will pre-judge their value without doing some prior analysis, but if remembering passwords is a frequent problem and frustration for you, by far the best review of password managers I have come across is this one at PasswordManager.com

If you have any comments or suggestions, we would be happy to hear from you.