Glossary
Password manager
Also called: Business password manager, password vault
In one sentence
An encrypted app that creates, stores and fills in strong, unique passwords, so staff don’t have to remember or reuse them.
A password manager keeps every password in an encrypted vault unlocked by one strong master passphrase (plus MFA). It generates long random passwords, fills them into websites, and warns when a saved password is weak, reused or appears in a known breach.
The big problem it solves is password reuse. When a website you used years ago is breached, criminals try the same email and password on Microsoft 365, banking sites and practice software. If every account has a unique password, one breach stays one breach.
A business password manager adds things a personal one doesn’t: shared vaults for team logins (the insurance portal, the supplier website), permission control over who sees which passwords, and the ability to remove a departing employee’s access without changing every shared password by hand. It beats sticky notes, spreadsheets and the browser’s built-in password saving on a shared front-desk PC.
Example: a dental office’s front desk shares logins to five insurance portals. Instead of a notebook in a drawer, the logins live in a shared vault; when a receptionist leaves, her access to the vault is removed in one step. Create strong master passphrases with our passphrase generator, and where apps support it, prefer SSO or passkeys.
Related terms
- MFA (multi-factor authentication)MFA means signing in with something you know (a password) plus something you have or are (a phone app, security key or fingerprint), so a stolen password alone isn't enough.
- PasskeyA password replacement that signs you in with your device’s fingerprint, face or PIN, using cryptography that can’t be phished.
- SSO (single sign-on)Signing in once with one strong company account to reach many different apps, instead of a separate password for each.
- PhishingPhishing is a scam message — usually an email, but also texts and phone calls — designed to trick someone into handing over a password, opening malware or sending money.
- Least privilegeLeast privilege means giving every person, account and program only the access it needs to do its job — nothing more, and for no longer than necessary.