[divider][/divider]
A few months ago on our Creative at Heart team retreat, I got to talking about the weird things that really EXCITE me. Like meal planning. And organizing my email. And budgeting; oh man, I could talk for days about budgeting. And my method of housing ALL of my different, incredibly complicated passwords. I kept babbling about these totally boring things when Kat looked at me and said, “You know a lot about these things and clearly have a lot to say. Blog them.” So here we are! Hello friends!
Is anyone else guilty of using the same password for all of your online accounts? Or making them REALLY easy? I had to beg Max to stop signing up for websites using the password “max123.” The last thing we want is hackers screwing up our Netflix recommendations, you know?
But in all reality, it is so, so important to keep your online presence secure. Bank accounts, Paypal, email, paying your bills online — that’s sensitive information! And when you’re a business owner, you can add additional banking accounts, private client info, taxes and business licenses on top of it. And to make sure there’s no room for guesswork, you want your passwords to be at least 15 characters made up of a string of numbers, punctuation, and both lowercase and capital letters. But that is a LOT to keep track of and nearly impossible to remember!
Enter my secret weapon: 1Password! This program is an incredibly useful tool when it comes to keeping track of your log-ins. I LOVE 1Password not only because it helps expedite my business in a small way, but it helps organize my personal life, too. The key behind 1Password is this: you only need to remember ONE password to unlock the app. Once the app is open, you’re able to access your personal treasure trove of ornate, 30 character secret codes, your “master password” being the only one you need to remember.
1Password comes in a couple of formats: a full desktop app, an internet browser extension (I use Google Chrome) and mobile. I use the in-browser version the most! When on a site’s login page, I just click the icon and a menu drops down. The app recognizes the site and displays the associated accounts. When I click the account I want to log into, the information is auto-populated into the login username and password fields, easy as pie! This means I never have to manually type any login information and am free to make my passwords as difficult and complicated as I can. SO easy.
The app keeps track of more than just passwords, too. There’s a section for any sensitive information you want to keep on file — licenses, social security numbers, passports, wifi router passwords, email accounts, memberships, software licenses — you name it, you can store it. Online shopping is so simple it’s almost dangerous, as I’m able to click “personal checking account” and my debit card information is autofilled into a site’s checkout page.
1Password is currently $69.99 and is so worth the money. I debated a bit before committing (“Do I *really* need to pay this much to login to Facebook?”) but am so happy I did. It feels like every other day you hear some story about identity theft or personal information being stolen — why not take that extra step to protect yourself?
Do you have any special way of protecting or organizing your confidential information? I’d love to hear it!
[divider][/divider]
Please note that I am in no way affiliated with 1Password or its sister companies. I am not getting paid to write this post. I just really love 1Password 🙂
