Evidence Management – There’s No More Room on My Password Cheat Sheet!
July 31, 2019
As the leading evidence management software provider in the world, our company, Tracker Products knows a thing or two about the importance of securing information. We are well versed in securing data to protect our clients’ information. However, the best security protocols in the world may not be able to secure your data if passwords are breached giving unauthorized users access. Whether it’s securing your agency’s data or your personal data, there’s a right and wrong way to manage your various passwords.
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Do you have a notebook around your computer that you use to keep track of all your logins and passwords? How about a piece of paper stashed under your keyboard or mousepad? Maybe you realized this is not very secure so you have one password you use for everything? Or do you just use the browser and computer storage option? Dealing with a large number of logins can be a lot more trouble than I ever thought it would be, and in the interest of full disclosure, I tried all of the methods above at various point in my computing life.
A secure online existence can be a real chore, but if you are still using one of the above methods to manage your passwords, I strongly urge you to look into some form of password vault or storage. There are many products out there, and I will only share my experience with LastPass. This is not an endorsement or promotion for LastPass, but it is the only password storage product I have used. This is mainly because it does everything I need – I have no doubt just scratched the surface of some of the possibilities of this product. The reality for me is I do not want to spend any more time dealing with passwords than I have to. Also, I do not want to spend time working on setting another product up. This is where having any password storage can be a real time-saver – once it is set up your days of struggling to remember logins and passwords can be at a merciful end.
Here are some features of LastPass that have really been a time saver for me:
– Saving user names and passwords for all of my logins. I use LastPass for everything – email accounts, home utilities, bank accounts, shopping sites, work logins. These can be organized into folders for easier organization.
– Password generation – Last Pass can auto-create passwords with various requirements. Have you ever come across a login page like this:
Trying to meet each of the password requirements can be a challenge – especially if you are trying to stick to a “one password for everything” design. Has anybody created a password with just appending a number or special character? Don’t feel bad – I’ve done so myself!
– Sharing passwords – LastPass gives you the ability to share passwords with a spouse, co-workers, friends, etc. It is as easy as sending an email to invite another person to share your login credentials.
– Multifactor authentication – This is a fairly easy way to increase your security. In addition to logging in to LastPass with a username and password, you can opt to also use a second layer of protection for your account. There are many multifactor options including LastPass authenticator, Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, Toopher, and Duo.
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One aspect of using a password manager that I particularly like is having your login credentials wherever you go and on any device. Setting up a new phone or computer is no longer difficult – I just login to LastPass using my master password and Google authenticator and I have everything I need.
There are other password storage applications – a quick google search will show you some different options. Keeper, 1Password, Dashlane, Sticky Password just to name a few.
Some are pay services, but many can be used for free. I use the free version of LastPass, but there is a more feature-rich version that one can pay to use. I would guess most can do the features I mention above, plus many others.
Take some time to get a handle on your passwords. It will improve your security and in the long run, can be a real time saver.
Our SAFE evidence tracking software is more than just barcodes and inventory control, this Tracker Product is an end-to-end chain of custody software for physical and digital evidence, resolving each of the critical issues facing evidence management today.
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