The vulnerability might masquerade as a feature but poses a serious threat to the privacy and security of the users on the internet.
Where is this security loop located?
The threat sits in the web browsers you use.There is a feature called ‘export passwords’ on your web browsers. It actually helps you manually export all the internet account login details in a plain CSV file.
What is a CSV file?
Comma Separated Value file is a plain text file that can be opened using Microsoft Excel.By that, you might have understood what’s happening there. Yeah! The passwords saved in a text format are open for anyone to see.
It is easy for hackers to find the file with extension .csv and steal the information from it.
What’s the solution for it?
We have a habit of letting browsers save the passwords. It’s convenient to autofill credentials and login every time you want to. But that’s where the trouble arises.The password we save in browsers are protected with only one layer, that is computer login password. Anyone with the knowledge of your computer login password will be able to access the list of all internet accounts by just exporting the passwords to a CSV file.
#1 The only best solution for this problem is not to let the web browsers save your passwords.
Then how can you manage to remember all of them?
You don’t need to.
In this way, you will only remember the frequently accessed accounts and will tend to forget the rest. It is good for security as well. Because, whenever you don’t remember a password, you better reset it. That’s equal to changing the password. However, it is better to change the password once every 6 months.
#2 A better would be using a password manager. We have LastPassword, 1Password, and so on for this purpose. They encrypt the passwords stored and so it is not that easy to see them in text format.
Do you know any other methods to protect your browser's saved passwords? Comment down below.
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