In the grand scheme of things, passwords are about security and confirming your identity, meaning anyone who gets ahold of your passwords could essentially impersonate you. That’s why it’s essential to use a strong and unique password for every website, minimizing the possibility of password theft. Throughout the entirety of our life, we have to not only construct a myriad of incredibly complex and secure passwords but remember them all as well.
This leaves us with a few options:
- Write your passwords down: In essence, having a sheet of paper comprised of all your passwords can be extremely helpful, but let’s say it gets lost or you happen to be away from your desk. Not only that, but the list can become convoluted once you hit more than 50 logins to keep track of. And yes, one could make the argument that you could save a list on a cellular device. But what happens if it breaks, or someone gets a hold of your phone, or it accidentally gets deleted?
- Use the same password across the board: This is one of the most significant online security habits that we as a society need to break. All it takes is one data breach or hack to compromise a password, and your entire online identity is then put in jeopardy.
- Use a password manager software: This is the most secure way to manage all of your online passwords and logins, which is what we’ll dive into during this review of Dashlane. Not only will we cover how it works, but we’ll detail what makes this particular service unique.
By now, every business needs to learn how to conduct a cyber security assessment to understand their most significant vulnerabilities. These are a few simple steps that every business can take right now to help help protect themselves from cyber criminal attacks.
How Dashlane Works
Essentially, Dashlane works by helping users create secure passwords and store them securely in an online vault, allowing you to search and retrieve them easily. In this vault, you can keep:
- Passwords
- Personal Information
- Secure Notes
- IDs
- Payments
- Receipts
Password managers encrypt this vault with a master password that users set, granting access to their database of usernames and passwords. While it’s possible to access and edit the password manager database within the app itself, typically, the software works in the background while you’re browsing the internet. For example, every time you go to log into a webpage, instead of typing in your email and trying to remember the password, the Dashlane app pops up. It reveals any logins within the database that are available to use. Additionally, depending on your preferences, you can even have Dashlane automatically log you into known websites.
Creating Passwords with Dashlane
If you’re someone who uses basic passwords such as your name or the name of your pet, it’s critical to use a password manager app. If you’re curious about whether your passwords are good enough, you can use an online password strength checker.
When you create a new login online, Dashlane will present a random and secure password to use. If desired, you can set the length and type of characters of the generated passwords. Dashlane then immediately stores the new password in the secure vault, making for a straightforward process that even the most average internet user can use.
Dashlane Features
There are quite a few unique features that set apart Dashlane from its competitors, and we’ve detailed them here:
- Auto Sign-In: The software can both autofill and auto-sign in your passwords, saving an extra 5-10 seconds per sign-in.
- Easy Password Sharing: You can give and revoke permission to passwords that you need to share to team members.
- Emergency Lockout Protection: Users can set up “Emergency Contacts” if something happens and someone needs access to their account.
- Easy to Use Software: There’s a reason Dashlane got Editor’s Choice award for their apps on both Apple and Google Play; they’re extremely user friendly.
- Virtual Private Network: VPN is extra security for times you connect to public networks, and Dashlane allows access to one without paying for a separate subscription.
- Dark Web Monitoring: Dashlane scans the internet to see if your information has been compromised and informs users on what they need to do if so.
Security Dashboard
After setting up Dashlane, you must import all of your passwords from your browser or previous password manager. After doing this, you can head over to the Security Dashboard panel, and you’ll see something like this:
The security dashboard gives you a birds-eye view of your passwords. When you click on “compromised,” you’ll get a list of websites that have compromised passwords, and in one click, you can replace them with a new and secure one.
Conclusion
If you’ve never used a password manager before, we highly suggest you start, and Dashlane is at the top of the list and something our team can personally vouch for. At Parried, we’ve incorporated Dashlane as part of our solution stack, and not only is it easy to navigate, but it saves our team a lot of time and effort, all the while keeping us safe. Still have questions? We’re always happy to help new and existing clients, so schedule a free IT consultation to help perfect your password security!
