Large corporations such as Apple, Google and Microsoft are working on getting rid of the traditional password – but it will still take some time before that happens. But how are you supposed to remember all the additions? Preferably with a password manager – but not with everyone.
It’s being touted as the next big thing: a passwordless Internet. Many corporations are working flat out to ensure that the highly sensitive access data is no longer stuck on Post-It notes on screens, but that another way is found to make their access available to users. Incidentally, this should put an end to the incessant attempts to attack innocent Internet citizens and end the constant leaks of large amounts of data.
However, many of these approaches are still in their infancy, so we will have to wait a while. In the meantime, the good old password remains to unlock websites, apps, programs and computers. And if you stick to all the rules that exist for supposedly secure passwords, these are mostly complicated, long codes decorated with special characters – of course, a different one for each access. In order to keep track, you need a password manager. Stiftung Warentest looked at 16 such programs and tested which provider you can trust your data with a clear conscience – and who better not.
Seven “good”, four “sufficient”
Stiftung Warentest rated a total of seven password managers as “good”. Test winner is “1Password” (2.2) with costs of around 38 euros per year. Warentest certifies the program’s good security functions, ease of use, high versatility and secure storage of valuable data. If the costs for “1Password” are too high, you will find a cheap alternative with “Bitwarden”. With a full range of functions, the program with the grade “good” (2.5) only costs nine euros a year, and if you only want to save website access, it’s even free of charge. From our own experience, the star can confirm this rating, “Bitwarden” works on the author’s computer. password
In the test, four providers only managed to get the grade “sufficient”. This also includes the popular and free “KeePassXC”, which owes its rating of 4.1 primarily to the fact that the provider does not have its own apps for iOS and Android and you have to resort to offers from third-party providers. Last in the test is “SafeInCloud” (4.2), since the so-called master password, i.e. the passphrase that grants access to all other data, can only be four characters long in this program, so it tends to be insecure.
Russian provider skeptical
On the other hand, there was no grade for the offer from the Russian provider Kaspersky, since a recommendation did not seem possible due to a current warning from the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) about the manufacturer’s antivirus software.
In the test, Stiftung Warentest appealed to users to consider using such software. In fact, according to Warentest, the time it takes to set up a password manager is worth it. Firstly, access data can no longer be misplaced, secondly, they are more secure than on a piece of paper or in the phone’s address book.
You can find the complete test for a fee at test.de.
