Remember Browser Passwords? Just Say No!

It seems more and more websites are requiring logins. It can be quite inconvenient. Most Web browsers – Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, etc. allow the user to store user ID’s and passwords for websites. This feature is intended to offer convenience. So I understand when people use the “Remember me” and Remember Password” options when they’re offered.

But, look at the situation from the criminal’s point of view. He knows that a lot of people allow their browser to remember their passwords. He also knows that same browser usually contains a history of the websites visited. So, if he can break into their browser, steal the passwords and download the websites they’ve recently visited, he can probably gain access to some, if not all of those accounts.

You might say “But wait, aren’t those passwords encrypted?” Yes, some browsers encrypt passwords, but some don’t. I say it doesn’t matter whether they’re encrypted or not. The encryption can be easily ‘cracked.” Do a quick Google search for ‘browser password recovery’ or any number of similar terms. The fact is that anyone can access software, sometimes for free, that will recover your browser passwords.

Think twice before asking your browser to save this information. In fact I strongly discourage the use of this feature. I think it’s a huge security risk. My recommendation is to clear out any existing passwords and if possible, set your browser to stop asking to remember passwords.

If you need a more secure way to remember your passwords, see the articles here: http://techteachtoo.com/tag/passwords/

Here are some links that might help.
How to remove existing passwords in IE 7 & IE8
http://kb.iu.edu/data/alcx.html

How to remove existing passwords in Firefox
http://kb.iu.edu/data/atdd.html

How to remove existing passwords in Chrome
http://www.google.com/support/chrome/bin/answer.py?answer=95606

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