Your password manager is under attack: How to defend yourself against a new threat

Do you sometimes feel stuck in a Catch-22 regarding your long-term credential management strategy? You are. On the one hand, if the tech industry has its way -- to abolish all passwords and replace them with passkeys -- users will eventually have almost no choice but to rely on password managers for signing in to their favorite sites and apps. Yes, the days of committing user IDs and passwords to memory or cryptically scratching your passwords into an old day planner are numbered. Also: Is your Microsoft account passwordless yet? Why it (probably) should be and how to do it right On the other hand, malicious actors are the lions at our gate. All the password management solution providers ZDNET spoke with acknowledge that they're under constant attack by hackers trying to access the proverbial keys to the kingdom and the riches they protect. "Password managers are high-value targets and face constant attacks across multiple surfaces, including cloud infrastructure, client devices, and browser extensions," said NordPass PR manager Gintautas Degutis. "Attack vectors range from credential stuffing and phishing to malware-based exfiltration and supply chain risks." Googling the phrase "password manager hacked" yields a distressingly long list of incursions. Fortunately, in most of those cases, passwords and other sensitive information were sufficiently encrypted to limit the damage. Also: 10 passkey survival tips: Prepare for your passwordless future now Earlier this year, Picus S...