A password organizer helps computer users store website passwords in a safe place, free from hackers and Internet thieves. Most password organizers come standard with modern computers, can be added to mobile devices, or can be downloaded from the Internet. There are also password protection programs built into popular browsing products that store website visit history and passwords as they are typed into certain pages.
Some people organize passwords by writing down or logging passwords on paper or a digital spreadsheet. While this is an easy way to remember passwords, it’s also easy for someone to either lose the paper list or become victim to an Internet thief who can access the spreadsheet stored on the computer hard drive. It’s better to keep passwords on an external drive, kept in a secure place.
Other password organizers come as part of major computer Internet browsers, like Internet Explorer® and Mozilla Firefox®. The password organizer tool will automatically ask users if it can remember the password for future visits to the website. This is still not a foolproof method of storing passwords, but it’s better than a hard copy or digital file left on the computer where it can become lost.
Mobile devices and smart phones also offer password organizer tools such as applications and directories that can safely store Internet passwords. Again, it’s important to keep the mobile device locked and safe from theft if this method is used to store important passwords. This is especially true when using a mobile device to log passwords for financial accounts or business websites.
A wide range of password organizer software products can be purchased and downloaded to any computer. This software is specially designed to store website passwords, user names, and contact information for each website visited. This information is typically encrypted using security features and can be frequently updated with security patches and backed up to an external hard drive. Password protection software also usually comes with technical support and Internet identity theft help.
Some online services also provide password organizer tools. These are web-based, secure sites that allow members to store multiple passwords for unlimited websites. The benefits of web-based password organizer programs are that users can access this information from anywhere, as long as there is a connection to the Internet. Online password storage services often offer unique password creation, secure file sharing, and virtual file backup resources too.