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A14 TECHNOLOGY
Friday 28 June 2024
One Tech Tip:

What to do when you have too many passwords to remember

By KELVIN CHAN cally fill in the details if the
AP Business Writer web address doesn’t match
LONDON (AP) — Everyone the one linked to the saved
has too many passwords. password.
The credentials we need Many also support passkeys,
to remember to navigate a new technology that com-
online life keep multiplying, panies like Google have
not just for frequently used been rolling out as a safer
email, banking, social me- alternative to passwords.
dia, Netflix and Spotify logins, How do I choose the best
but also, say, the little-known one to use?
e-commerce site you’re not There are dozens of pass-
sure you’ll buy from again. word managers on the mar-
According to some unsci- ket, so it can be hard to fig-
entific studies, the average ure out what’s best for you.
person has hundreds of Better-known platforms in-
passwords. That’s a lot to clude 1Password, Bitwarden,
keep track of. You might be Dashlane, Bitdefender, Nor-
tempted to recycle them, dpass, Keeper and Keepass.
but it’s one of the bad pass- Check out the many tech
word habits that cybersecu- review websites that have
rity experts warn against. conducted in-depth test-
Instead, use a password ing and compiled rankings
manager. They’ve been A visitor looks at his phone at the Mobile World Congress 2024 in Barcelona, Spain, Feb. 27, 2024. of the most popular services.
around for a while and can Associated Press If you want to nerd out, us-
be useful tools to keep on ily guessed information like securely in a digital vault. ager should also be able ers on Reddit have drawn
top of your credentials. But birthdays, names of fam- When you need to access to generate complex pass- up spreadsheets with side-
they can also be intimidat- ily members, favorite sports an online service, it auto- words with letters, numbers by-side comparisons. Brit-
ing for those who aren’t teams, or simple phrases like fills the login and password and symbols, for whenever ain’s National Cyber Security
tech-savvy. Here’s a guide abc123. fields. The only thing you’ll you’re setting up a new ac- Centre has a buyer’s guide.
on how to use them: The best strategy, experts need to remember is a sin- count. And it should also Most services have free and
Why should I use a password say, is to use a different pass- gle password to open the recognize that you’re sign- paid versions. The paid op-
manager? word for each account, the password manager. ing into an online service for tions typically cost a few
Many people just use the longer and more complex Most password managers the first time and ask if you dollars a month while the
same password for all their the better, backed up by have a smartphone app want to save the credentials free offerings tend to have
online accounts, mainly be- two-factor authentication that works with mobile you’ve entered. restrictions like allowing only
cause it’s the most conve- where possible. browsers and other apps Password managers can one device to be logged
nient thing to do. But it’s impossible to remem- and can be opened with a also help you avoid fall- in at a time or limiting the
Don’t! ber all those various codes. thumbprint or facial ID scan. ing prey to phishing scams. number of passwords you
If your credentials are So let a password manager If you’re using a computer, Those deceptive emails from can store.
caught in a cyber breach, do the job. you can also log in to your fraudsters trying to trick you If cost is a factor, Bitwarden’s
the hackers could try using How does a password man- password vault through a into clicking a link to a phony free service gets top marks
the stolen passwords to get ager work? browser plug-in or by going website designed to harvest from reviewers, though it’s
into other services. The basic concept is simple: to a website. login details? A password less polished and not as im-
Other no-nos: Using eas- Your passwords are stored A good password man- manager won’t automati- mediately intuitive to use. q

NASA taps Elon Musk’s SpaceX to bring International Space Station

out of orbit in a few more years

WASHINGTON (AP) — NASA has awarded SpaceX an $843 million contract to build the
vehicle that will bring the International Space Station out of its longtime orbit of Earth
when its operating lifespan ends in a few more years.
SpaceX, a privately held company controlled by technology mogul Elon Musk, will build
the vehicle that will bring down the space station, but NASA will still oversee the even-
tual mission.
The International Space Station, launched in 1998, is expected to be needed to be
brought out of orbit by 2030. The station is operated by space agencies from the U.S.,
Europe, Japan, Canada and Russia. All the countries involved have pledged to oper-
ate the station until 2030 except Russia, which has only committed to participate until
2028.
Crews of astronauts have been occupying the space station since 2000.
“The orbital laboratory remains a blueprint for science, exploration, and partnerships
in space for the benefit of all,” said Ken Bowersox, NASA’s associate administrator for

This photo provided by NASA shows the International Space space operations mission directorate.
Station from the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour during a fly The contract is another vote of confidence in the technological prowess of SpaceX, a
around of the orbiting lab that took place following its undocking rocket maker based in Hawthorne, California, that Musk founded in 2002 to explore new
from the Harmony module’s space-facing port, Nov. 8, 2021. frontiers in space. Musk, 52, then became the driving force behind in Tesla, the electric
Associated Press car maker that accounts for most of his estimated fortune of $220 billion.q