A really handy feature of web browsers is the ability to save user name and password information for the myriad of logins required across web sites. With this convenience is the option to keep a master password which must be entered before any of the saved information will be used. I would highly recommend you enable this option.
You may think the master password is not needed when you use your computer from home since (hopefully) you trust everyone in your house, but considering your login information is a great target for unscrupulous people to try to get. Again, this is assuming a lot of stars align and your computer becomes compromised and broadcasts your, for example, banking login information, to others. Only a slight bit of paranoia here…
Anyhow, the moral of the story is just to set a master password on your browser passwords, enter it one time when you first open the browser and don’t worry about it.
Jason Faulkner is the man who brings you our daily tips. He is based in Atlanta, Georgia.
Drew said:
6/28/2008 11:45 am
I couldn’t agree more with you on this subject.
I have a master password on FF which allows me to have one-click access to my email acounts as I have the WebMail notifier add-on. I also use AI RoboForm for both FF and IE and that too has a master password and that is where the majorirty of my passwords are stored. When you have logins to banking sites, forums, email accounts, etc. keeping track of 100+ passwords is no easy task.
I’m a freak when it comes to data integrity and security, and when you have banking passwords, email passwords, social security information all on a single PC, (even though it’s just me and my wife) if my laptop were to get stolen it would all be gone in an instant.
Great article and some very important points to take note of.
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Cindy said:
6/30/2008 1:14 am
Can you tell me how to set up a master password?
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Benjamin Munoz said:
6/30/2008 2:28 pm
Can you also tell me how to set up a master password?
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Jason Faulkner said:
6/30/2008 2:50 pm
In Firefox (I’m using FF2):
Tool > Options > Security > Check the box for ‘Use Master Password’
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Meherul said:
8/12/2008 6:38 am
I want that when i open browser it need password to go through any site. I already perform as Mr.Jason stated but not fulfill my demand.
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Jason Faulkner reply on August 12, 2008 8:19 am:
Why would you want to do this? The only sites which need to be ‘protected’ are login pages where your password is stored.
If you want a password to get to your browser at all, I would suggest putting a password to login to your computer and a screensaver password.
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