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If you are like Lots of people, someone has probably scolded you into using a password manager and you still haven’t heeded the advice. Now Chrome and Edge come to the rescue with improved password management built right into browsers.
Microsoft on Thursday announced a new password generator for the recently released Edge 88. People can use the generator when signing up for a new account or changing an existing password. The generator provides a drop down menu in the password field. Clicking on the candidate selects it as a password and is saved in a password manager built into the browser. People can send the password to their other devices using Edge’s password sync feature.
As I’ve explained for years, the same things that make passwords memorable and easy to use are the same things that make them easy for others to guess. Password generators are among the safest sources of strong passwords. Instead of having to think of a password that is really unique and hard to guess, users can have a generator do it right.
“Microsoft Edge offers a built-in strong password generator that you can use when signing up for a new account or changing an existing password,” wrote members of the Microsoft Edge team. “Just look for the browser-suggested password drop-down in the password field and when selected it will be automatically saved in the browser and synced across all devices for easy future use.”
Edge 88 is also implementing a feature called Password Monitor. As the name suggests, it monitors saved passwords to make sure none of them are included in lists compiled from phishing attacks or compromised websites. When enabled, the password monitor will alert users when a password matches lists posted online.
Checking passwords securely is a difficult task. The browser must be able to match a password against a large and ever-changing list without sending sensitive information to Microsoft or information that could be detected by someone monitoring the connection between the user and Microsoft. In an accompanying post also published Thursday, Microsoft explained exactly how it’s done.
Not to be outdone, members of the Google Chrome team this week revealed their own password protections. Chief among them is a more feature rich password manager that is built into the browser.
“Chrome may now ask you to update your saved passwords when you log into websites,” wrote the Chrome team members. “However, you may want to update multiple usernames and passwords easily, in one convenient place. That’s why starting with Chrome 88, you can manage all your passwords even faster and easier in Chrome’s settings on desktop and on iOS (the Chrome Android app will have this feature soon too). “
Chrome 88 also makes it easier to check if any of your saved passwords have ended up in password dumps. While password auditing came to Chrome last year, the feature is now accessible through a security check.
Many people are more comfortable using a dedicated password manager because they offer more capabilities than those built into their browser. Most dedicated managers, for example, facilitate using dice words safely. With the line between browsers and password managers starting to blur, it’s likely only a matter of time until browsers offer more advanced management capabilities.
This story originally appeared in Ars Technica.
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