如何用一个密码管理所有的密码

Q. For me, one hindrance to using social media and trying new things online is having to remember the various usernames and passwords. Do you have any advice on simplifying or codifying this process?

问：我使用社交媒体、在网上尝试新事物时遇到的一个麻烦是必须记住各种用户名和密码。有什么办法能让这件事变得容易一些吗？

A. Paper or digital notebooks for recording account information are an inexpensive option, but they are not very secure. Using a dedicated password manager program is another solution. Such an app can take time to learn, but it can help create, organize and secure a growing collection of online credentials.

答：把账户信息记在纸上或电子设备里是一个便宜的方法，但不太安全。还有一个办法是使用专门的密码管理程序。你需要花些时间掌握这些应用程序的使用方法，但它能帮你创立、组织并管理更多的密码。

Most password managers work the same way: You create a master password for the program and then add the usernames and passwords for your various accounts to its database. During the setup process, some password programs can automatically help you find and add all your login information to their encrypted databases.

大部分密码管理软件的操作方法都是一样的：为这个应用程序创建一个主密码，然后把不同账户的用户名和密码输入它的数据库。在创建过程中，有些密码程序能自动寻找你的所有登录信息，并加入它们的加密数据库。

Later, when you have the password manager running and you visit a site that needs login information, enter your master password. The program consults its database and fills in the specific username and password for that site. You just need to remember the master password to get to all the other passwords stored in the program.

之后，如果你访问一个需要登录信息的网站时，密码管理程序也在运行，那么你只要输入主密码，这个程序就会访问数据库，把这个网站特定的用户名和密码填写上去。你只需要记住主密码，就能获得程序里存储的所有其他密码。

Most password managers have versions for Windows, Mac OS X, Android and iOS. To have your passwords available wherever you go, many programs can sync the password database across devices through a secure web connection — or locally over your own Wi-Fi network. The online storage servers for at least one password manager, LastPass, were hacked last year and even though the data was encrypted, some people may prefer to keep password data on the ground and out of the cloud.

大部分密码管家都有Windows版、Mac OS X版、安卓版和iOS版。为了让你随时随地获得密码，很多程序都能通过安全的网络连接或你自己的Wi-Fi局域网在不同设备上同步更新密码数据库。去年，至少有一个密码管理程序的网上存储服务器遭到黑客攻击，LastPass去年就遭到了攻击。虽然密码数据库是加密的，但是有些人可能更喜欢把它保存在本地，而非云上。

LastPass has a dedicated following and offers additional authentication options like fingerprint recognition to help protect your master password. Additional cross-platform password managers to consider include Dashlane and 1Password, among many others. Prices range from free for basic use on a single device to $12 and up for an annual subscription and syncing your password vault among computers and mobile devices. Check the features offered by each program you consider, read the setup information and make sure you are comfortable with its user interface before diving in.

LastPass拥有忠诚的客户群，还提供其他认证方式，比如指纹识别，以帮助保护主密码。你还可以考虑其他一些跨平台密码管家，比如Dashlane和1Password等。这些应用程序的价格不等，有的免费，有的需要支付12美元，提供单个设备的基本服务，还有些是缴年费，可以在电脑和移动设备上同步密码库。研究一下每个程序的特点，了解一下设定方法，在开始使用之前确保你喜欢它的用户界面。