Link Safe

YOU MIGHT HAVE no problem remembering your passwords if you use one of those in the top 10 most common, which, according to surveys, an alarming number of people still use. If you do insist on using ‘QWERTY’ or ‘LetMeln’, though, you’re asking for trouble.

The experts suggest that you should use long strings of mixed upper- and lower-case letters and figures and that they should be different for each site. Remembering dozens of passwords such as ‘5rT83fQL8s’ isn’t easy, though. You could rely on your browser to remember them, but that’s a security risk if you share your PC with others and it doesn’t help if you use lots of browsers and computers.

LastPass securely stores your passwords in an online account that is protected by a single master password. The free version installs as an add-on for all popular browsers under Windows, MacOS and Linux; the US $1 per month Premium version also supports smartphones.

 1. Download and install LastPass from https://lastpass.com. As part of the installation process, you’ll be asked which browsers you want the plug-in to be installed for and you should select all you intend to use. It you miss one out, though, don’t worry as you can easily add it later. Finally, you’ll be asked if you already have a LastPass account. Later you’ll probably install LastPass on other computers, in which case yo&d respond with already have a LastPass account’. The first time, select ‘I do not have a LastPass account, create one for me’.

3. LastPass now asks if you’d like it to look for insecure data items — passwords stored in browsers that it can read. We suggest you select Yes and then Next. It’ll tell you which items it has found and you should click on Next. LastPass will import them and ask if it should delete those items from their original location. Again, we suggest you select Yes and Next. LastPass will ask if you want to stay logged on when you close your browser. Select the option that, according to the onscreen advice, is most appropriate and click on Done.

4. Open your favourite browser and you’ll find that it has the LastPass icon (a white asterisk on a black background). Click on this to log in, supplying the email address and master password that you used in Step The LastPass icon will change to red. Click on that icon and select My LastPass Vault from the menu. You’ll see any passwords that were imported in Step 3 but here we’ll see how to add a new one. Under Actions, click on Add Site. A form will appear, and filling it in should be straightforward. Once you’ve done this and saved it, accessing that site couldn’t be simpler. From any PC and any browser, with the LastPass Vault open, just click on the name of the site and LastPass will log you in.