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Which is safer for password management Firefox browser or a password manager like Lastpass or Identity Safe?

  • 2 replies
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  • Last reply by azgal

azgal
azgal
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I've been looking into using a stand alone password manager and am concerned about the hacking potential. Is the password manager in the Firefox browser any safer? I'm not a sophisticated user but it seems to me that almost any company/government that is online can be hacked since it has happened to retailers, banks, IRS etc. And certainly any company that stores passwords is a potentially lucrative target. I guess it might depend somewhat on where the passwords are stored and the level of encryption that protects them which is what lead to my question since I think many of the password managers store the passwords in the cloud. Not sure what Firefox does. If it stores my passwords on my PC (Windows 10), which is protected by standard Norton antivirus, Windows firewall, Malwarebytes and Adwcleaner, and requires a password to login to the PC is that safer than cloud storage? I'd appreciate any feedback.

I've been looking into using a stand alone password manager and am concerned about the hacking potential. Is the password manager in the Firefox browser any safer? I'm not a sophisticated user but it seems to me that almost any company/government that is online can be hacked since it has happened to retailers, banks, IRS etc. And certainly any company that stores passwords is a potentially lucrative target. I guess it might depend somewhat on where the passwords are stored and the level of encryption that protects them which is what lead to my question since I think many of the password managers store the passwords in the cloud. Not sure what Firefox does. If it stores my passwords on my PC (Windows 10), which is protected by standard Norton antivirus, Windows firewall, Malwarebytes and Adwcleaner, and requires a password to login to the PC is that safer than cloud storage? I'd appreciate any feedback.

All Replies (2)

the-edmeister
the-edmeister
  • Moderator
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IMO, Firefox is better.

Last Pass servers were hacked last year. http://lifehacker.com/lastpass-hacked-time-to-change-your-master-password-1711463571

I know little about Identity Safe, but Symantec seems to have a problem keeping their Firefox add-on up-to-date and sometimes it isn't working for weeks at a time - per many forum threads here in recent years.

Overall, I 'm not 'big' on cloud storage for an type of data, but especially for Passwords.

azgal
azgal Question owner
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Thanks for your reply. I've been concerned about cloud storage but I'm wondering if the two factor authentication addresses that concern. From what I understand the hackers at Lastpass were unable to hack the passwords, just the password hints. But even if they had I think the two factor authentication would protect from unauthorized use/access if I understand it correctly. The one feature I really like with the stand alone PW manager is the ability to use it on all of my devices--laptops and Iphones.