Security is important in running any kind of business but never more so than with software development. With dozens of clients and hundreds of projects Coretechs has to manage thousands of passwords to a wide variety of systems. Using an Excel doc, in itself not secure at all, just won’t cut it. That’s why individuals and businesses rely heavily on modern password management software. Some of the big names in the field are Bitwarden, 1Password, Dashlane, ProtonPass, LastPass and Keeper. Coretechs uses Keeper for Business.

One of the nice things about Keeper is that a business license also provides each user with a free personal account for home use. Password Managers are critical requirements these days if you’re going to avoid the used envelope with Password1 written and crossed out and replaced with Password2! and so on. Keeper provides tiered levels of security such that passwords, folders, etc are all shared only with limited members of your team on a need to know basis. So, it provides robust tools to control the sharing of information as well as tools to monitor the security and quality of the passwords in use. Since all access is controlled by complex master passwords, 2FA and security phrases all other passwords can be randomly generated with long strings to maximize complexity while making it all simple to manage and use.

Password managers are not just for saving passwords. Any information that can and should be controlled, monitored and have limited distribution is a good fit. So, for instance PIN codes, project notes, access keys and more. Password managers also provide easy mechanism to share limited information to outside parties when necessary. Shared secrets are time limited and single view access so information stays tightly controlled. A good password manager, like Keeper, includes mobile apps and browser extensions to make it easy for the user to manage and access while keeping hackers out!

If you think you’ve got a pretty clever password that you use everywhere… First of all, that’s a major no no as once hackers crack it once they can apply the same password or variations to other sites you access. If you’re still not convinced check out this list of the 10,000 most common passwords to see if you’re on the list! A single high-end computer can test 100 billion passwords per second so random passwords that are used only on one site are key. However, if you’re not using a password manager, which you should, then you still don’ t need to make your password P@ssW0rd111!!!. The best way to make complex, hard to break passwords that are easy to use and remember is to string together multiple simple words. So, correcthorsebatterystaple is a great long complete password that’s formed from four easy to remember (and type) words and does the job better than that funky random one you’re been using. Hopefully, you’ve learned a little about password management and shared passwords that will make your life a bit more secure.