Shared passwords aren’t unusual and are very common among family members and even team members. It’s not unusual to give a secretary (or a virtual assistant) private information so that they can do their jobs. After all, a web designer will need information about your hosting account and other things to get their job done. So, how can you share your passwords with staff members safely?
Get a Password Manager
There is a lot of software today that you can invest in that helps you manage your passwords. These products provide tools that enable you to share information with your staff such as passwords, login credentials and more without actually giving them the main passwords.
Some to consider are:
* LastPass – https://lastpass.com/
* Dashlane – https://www.dashlane.com/
* RoboForm – http://www.roboform.com/
All of these solutions enable you to give different people different types of access to your information. In most cases you’ll have to upgrade to the professional version, but it’s more than worth it to protect your information.
Keep a Shared Dropbox
One way to share passwords if you have a small but trusted team is to keep a file in your Dropbox that you share only with those who need to know. If you update or change a password you simply update one sheet, and everyone will be informed when the document syncs.
One thing great about Dropbox is that you can set document permissions where some can only view the items and some can edit. You can also set up your passwords so that to reset you have to have a cell phone verification, so that someone doesn’t change the passwords and steal your information.
Via Email
If you send an image of the password via email, it should be very secure. It’s when you send it by plain text that it’s a problem. You want the password to be unreadable to any software. Of course, you don’t want to name the image “passwordforxyz” but instead give it a non-meaningful name and instruct the person to delete the password after writing it down securely someplace.
Work Out a Code with Your Team
Another really old-school method way of sharing a password is to work out a code in advance so that when you send the password they know it’s not the real password. Instead, they’ll have to know how to decode it per your former discussion and then they can use it.
The truth is, you’ll do best with the first two password-sharing methods than the others. The first two prevent anyone from asking over and over again what the passwords are, and you won’t have to change anything later other than within each system. It’s more convenient, straightforward, and safe.