The experts consulted for this story do not necessarily endorse the products ahead unless otherwise noted.
If you’ve gotten a little lackadaisical about setting up strong passwords each time you make a new account, I get it. Every site seems to want its own difficult combination of special characters that make it seemingly impossible to both create a strong password and remember it later. Maybe you’ve even taken to keeping all your passwords written in the Notes app just to keep them straight (I was definitely guilty of this one). If this sounds like you, you might be putting your digital safety at risk — but using a password manager can help for just a few dollars a month.
What is a password manager and why do you need one?
In previous HuffPost Life reporting on password rules you should follow, multiple data security experts recommended using a password manager. One of those experts was Aaron Pritz, CEO of cybersecurity firm Reveal Risk, who I followed up with to get more information.
“Reusing the same password across accounts is one of the most common and consequential mistakes people make,” Pritz told HuffPost. “When one site gets breached, attackers don’t just have your credentials for that site. They have a skeleton key they’ll try everywhere else.”
