The Bitwarden password manager is one of the newest password management solutions available. It is an open source password manager, which means the code is available for anyone to review. It has excellent security and a great range of features, and it is also one of the most reasonably priced solutions with an excellent free tier. In this post we will delve into how Bitwarden works and how the solution manages your passwords.
First of all you need to register for a free account, although premium level subscriptions are available with additional capabilities. On your first login you will be asked to create a master password for your password vault – where all of your passwords are securely stored. This needs to be unique and easy to remember. It is a good idea to use a passphrase as this is better for security while also being easy to remember.
Once this process has been completed you add the Bitwarden extension for the browsers you use: Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Edge, Safari, Vivaldi, Brave , or Tor for example.
After this is finished, when you visit a webpage to create an account or login to an existing account, you will be prompted to save your login information in your password vault. Doing this means that when you visit the webpage again the browser extension will automatically log you in using your saved username and password.
All you need to do is turn on this feature by clicking the Bitwarden icon, selecting Settings, and clicking Options. Then choose Enable Auto-fill On Page Load.
If you are replacing a previously-used password manager you can simply import all the passwords that are held in that account using the Bitwarden import function. To do this, you export passwords to a CSV, HTML, XML, or JSON file and access your Bitwarden vault. Here, you select Tools and Import Data before clicking on the application you’re importing passwords from. Finally upload the file that holds the passwords and select the Import option.
This is a quick process regardless of the number of passwords that you have on file. It is crucial to permanently delete the import file once you are finished so it cannot be accessed by anyone else.
Bitwarden is a very secure password management solution. Like all password managers, the weak point is the master password so it is vital that you set a very strong and unique password. Also consider improving security further still by configuring two-factor authentication. In the event of your master password being guessed, 2-factor authentication will prevent that password from being used by an unauthorized individual to access your password vault.
As a newcomer to the market, Bitwarden perhaps has something to prove, but it is clear that from the launch it is every bit as capable as some o the more well known brands such as LastPass and 1Password, and it offers great features at a much cheaper price. As a secure service it is practically impenetrable, and you can’t ask for much more than that in a password manager.