A Microsoft blog from October (via Softpedia) shows how the company is using the built-in Password Monitor feature in its browser. With this tool, passwords on Microsoft Edge are better protected. The browser can check to see if login credentials for services are secure. Microsoft explains how passwords are an obvious target for cybercriminals: “Passwords are the metaphorical keys that protect your data on the web, help manage your online accounts, and offer personalized and delightful experiences. For these very reasons, they are attractive to criminals. Many websites require you to create an account with a password, and many people reuse the same passwords on many sites to make it easier to remember them. These sites can inadvertently divulge the passwords through phishing scams or large-scale data breaches. The passwords may then get traded on the dark web and used by criminals to take over accounts.” Password Monitor helps users create more complex passwords and to avoid choosing the same password across multiple services. Furthermore, it conducts active searches to see if the passwords you choose are breached.
Moving Beyond the Password
Users can also conduct a manual scan to find passwords that have already been leaked. This can be done via the Microsoft Edge > Settings > Profiles > Passwords > Fix leaked passwords. A “scan now” button allows the browser quick launch this tool. “To help protect yourself from such attacks, it’s critical to identify if any of your passwords are compromised and then quickly update them. Password Monitor in Microsoft Edge helps you do exactly this; it securely checks all your stored passwords against a repository of known-compromised passwords and alerts you if a match is found, so you can change them,” Microsoft adds. “We humans are not great at following good password practices, as multiple studies have shown. Choosing easily cracked passwords or reusing passwords across websites are two common mistakes many of us make. Password Monitor helps protect our accounts even when we make mistakes.” This ability in Edge is useful considering how vulnerable passwords have become in recent years. In fact, Microsoft is leading the push to remove passwords as a security measure on some of its services. In fact, Microsoft recently suggested 2021 could be the year in which the password becomes a thing of the past. Among the password-less moves Redmond as made in recent years include password-free login for Azure AD through Microsoft Authenticator. Elsewhere, customers also get password-free Microsoft Account login with FIDO2 compatibility. Then there’s Windows Hello, which uses biometric tools to remove the need for a password. Tip of the day: Do you get flooded by notifications in Windows 10 from apps and want to disable them completely or just the notification sound? Our tutorial shows you how to do this. As an alternative you can also configure Windows 10 Focus Assist (Do Not Disturb Mode) and set quiet hours.
