GlossarySecurity awareness

Password manager

Short answer

A password manager is an application that creates, stores and fills in strong, unique passwords for every account, so people only need to remember one master password. In companies, it also allows credentials to be shared securely within teams.

What it does

A password manager generates long random passwords, stores them in an encrypted vault and fills them in automatically on the right websites. Because it only fills credentials on the genuine domain, it also helps people notice phishing pages.

Business features

Business versions let teams share credentials securely without sending them by chat or email, give administrators control over shared vaults, enforce password policies and remove access when someone leaves.

Is it safe to keep all passwords in one place?

Reputable password managers encrypt the vault so that the provider cannot read it, and the vault itself should be protected with a strong master password and MFA. The alternative, reused or written down passwords, is far riskier.

Password manager and SSO

SSO removes passwords for applications that support it. A password manager covers everything else. Most companies need both.

Where it shows up in compliance

A password manager supports the authentication information controls of ISO 27001 (Annex A 5.17) and the ENS access measures.

Related terms

Keep reading on this topic

Turning employees into an active line of defence: awareness training, phishing simulation, device and identity hygiene, and SaaS access control.

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