In the age of digital security, we are constantly confronted with the importance of strong and unique passwords. However, inventing and remembering good passwords is not human work. That's why a password vault is often recommended. In practice, a password vault unfortunately appears to have little effect on the quality of passwords. In this article, we explain why.

What is a password vault?

With the growing complexity of our digital lives, it has become almost impossible to remember all the passwords we have today. A solution to that problem is provided by a password vault, also known as a password manager. The idea behind a password vault is that it provides a secure place (a vault) for your passwords so you don't have to remember your passwords. You unlock the vault with a master password. This is the only password you need to remember.

Like we wrote earlier, a safe can be hacked, which is why its use is not entirely risk-free.

A password vault and password safety

A password vault offers convenience because you no longer have to remember passwords. But does it also make you safe?

The simple answer to this question is no!

After all, using a password vault has no effect on the quality of your current passwords. If these are weak, they still are if you've switched to using a password vault.

The only way to become more secure is to have your existing one, unsafe replace passwords with safe passwords.

Unfortunately, people don't usually do this. For example, because people are not aware of this, or because they don't feel like it because changing passwords takes time and/or because people often don't know which accounts they all have. In short, just the switch to a password vault won't get you there (yet).

The role of end users

The responsibility for using good passwords, even when using a password vault, still lies with the end user. It is therefore important to realize that a password vault is a tool is; no miracle cures:

1. Using a password vault isn't mandatory for every account. Many passwords thus remain out of the password vault management, so their quality is not monitored.
2. The use of strong passwords is not enforced. As a result, weak passwords remain in use, even if they are managed by a vault, even though any password vault can generate strong passwords these days.

The risk of false security lies in wait here: You think you're safe by switching to a password vault, but security doesn't improve because you keep using your existing passwords.

For organizations, this risk of false security is enormous. This is what our customer measurements that a password vault that is made available to everyone is often only actually used by 4-5% of employees.

Conclusion

While a password vault is a handy tool for managing your passwords, it doesn't guarantee the quality of the passwords you keep in it, and certainly not the passwords you don't (yet) keep in your vault. Not being able to enforce the quality of all your passwords is a shortcoming of the current generation of password vaults and can lead to false security.

It is therefore crucial that users and organizations are aware of this limitation and take responsibility for using good passwords, even when using a password vault.

MindYourPass makes all passwords secure

MindYourPass was developed with the conviction that using good passwords should no longer be optional. That's why MindYourPass combines a password solution with a security solution.

• The password solution provides the strongest possible passwords without being stored in a vault.
• The security solution enforces the use of good passwords.

With this unique combination, for the first time, you can effectively say goodbye to insecure passwords and switch to an enforceable password policy, resulting in measurably improved online security.

The reporting options also make cybersecurity a activity that can be discussed at the highest administrative levels.

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