Even though there are many advanced ways of locking an Android device, the moment you’re on the home screen to use an app or access an online account there is a chance that your most precious data may be sniffed out without you ever even realizing it. To avoid this there are two options: either don’t access your accounts at all – which is completely unrealistic – or opt for the appropriate protection in the form of a password management app.
These apps are not only better than the built-in password managers found in mobile browsers, but they are often available as free miniaturized versions of the best-known desktop password managers on the market.
And with features like an encrypted vault containing app logins and passwords fetched from your desktop browser or the autofilling of credentials into their respective input boxes, these tools provide the exact things that they were intended for: convenience and security.
Responsible internet users know that using multiple strong passwords is the best way to protect yourself online. However, remembering all those passwords or even writing them down isn’t exactly convenient. Thankfully, password managers come to the rescue, and Dashlane is one of the best solutions you can find. Although it can be used for free, Dashlane bundles in a number of helpful extras for a monthly fee. It’s a multi-device program where you can securely store all your passwords in a bank-level encrypted cloud storage vault. Additionally, Dashlane sports some unique features like the password changer, password strength evaluation tool, secure data sharing, and a built-in VPN – all of which help achieve complete protection when surfing the web. And we haven’t even mentioned the stellar mobile app, various authentication methods, continuous security monitoring, and unlimited data and password storage…
Let’s face it – a data breach is the ultimate nightmare scenario for anyone, and the consequences are the worst for companies. Unfortunately, back in 2022, hackers were able to breach LastPass and steal segments of customer data like usernames and salted and hashed passwords.
Although the incident caused the loss of customer trust and brand reputation, the company has been taking all the measures possible to restore confidence and retain customers. A few examples include splitting from its parent company, enhancing its security infrastructure with strengthened password security and advanced logging, and investing in cybersecurity leadership.
LastPass’s core features were never in doubt, since it offers all elements necessary for excellent password management, such as a password generator, password sharing, dark web monitoring, and autofill. Additionally, there’s a free version with unlimited password storage, free trials, and discounts of up to 20% on all plans.
Nowadays having a password manager is a must if you hope to ever recall all those complex, secure passwords created for numerous websites. However, passwords are worth nothing if the program managing them is too complicated. This is where Sticky Password enters the picture, a brutally simple password manager with Czech origins.
With this software on your devices all your passwords will be well protected by military-grade encryption both locally and in the cloud. The program offers various data syncing options (both online and offline), integrates with many browsers and it sports an equally simple mobile application. This password manager features a free for life version alongside both a subscription for Sticky Password Premium on a cheap annual basis or the option to purchase a license for the software and use all of its stellar features without any limitations. And to top it all, Sticky Password treats premium subscribers like kings, as both the annual plan and the lifetime license are available with a 50% discount that makes it available for as low as $1.25 per month.
Everybody knows that all major web browsers are available as apps and that they are all equipped with free built-in password managers capable of saving and then recalling any of your logins any time they are needed. However, no matter how convenient this option may seem, the use of these password managers is a serious security risk, which is especially true for the mobile version of Chrome – which is as vulnerable security-wise as its desktop counterpart. The vaults of these password managers aren’t as protected as a true password management program, not to mention that they aren’t even properly encrypted, meaning that any hacker could access and steal the vault’s content with ease.
Thankfully, all of the major password management services that have taken a closer look at offer their apps for free, only requiring you to create an account. Granted, the free plans of these services are often a bit limited – typically lacking cloud syncing between devices, for example – but they still provide the necessary amount of protection for your logins and other credentials.
Password managers are desktop-based programs first, meaning that despite sharing the most important features the app version of the service will never be as complete as its desktop counterpart.
This involves the importing of passwords as well; password management apps are simply incapable of importing existing passwords from either the device’s default browser or from an exported file. Admittedly, there are rare exceptions like Sticky Password that allow you to manually add a password database file after it is exported from the company’s Windows/macOS program, but in most cases the only option to fill the app’s vault is by having the computer version and activating cloud syncing – a feature that is only available for premium subscribers.
Thankfully, cloud syncing is flawless and, most importantly, secure. Once all the passwords are fetched from the browser and are stored in the desktop password manager’s vault, the only task then is to enable the cloud sync function and the next time you sign into the mobile app those credentials will be waiting for you in the app’s vault as well.
The overall password security of Android devices is not bad at all. Even though many models still provide unlock patterns, which are by far the worst way of protecting the device, the newest Android phones feature biometric authentication methods like fingerprint detection or voice passwords that are much harder to crack.
Google, on the other hand, is a terrible friend. Not only are its services gluttonous RAM guzzlers taking up valuable memory space but they also don’t protect users’ data as they should. Admittedly, the built-in password manager of the default Chrome mobile browser is an exception, since it is at least capable of password-protecting the vault with the default Google account password. However, if that password is somehow sniffed then nothing will stop wrongdoers from accessing any other credentials saved to Google’s servers.
This is why using the appropriate protection on Android devices is essential. We have already explained how password managers and all of their features – particularly the built-in safe browsers – can effectively protect you, but for the ultimate defense against hackers it’s highly recommended to use a VPN that makes your online activities completely invisible, and therefore allowing you to surf the web without fear of data theft.
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