Aviva Zacks of Safety Detectives sat down with Simon Davis, VP of Marketing of RoboForm Password Manager. She had the opportunity to ask him all about his company’s unique password management service.
Safety Detectives: What has your cybersecurity journey been like?
Simon Davis: I was a RoboForm customer way back in 2006 as a civilian. Not long after, the company advertised a job opening for a marketing manager. I joined as just the third ever hire on the marketing team. This was pre-iPhone, pre-Chrome. Internet Explorer was the most common browser and Firefox was just getting started.
Back then, many security experts still recommended against storing your passwords in any software. Now it’s become a staple that you should be using a password manager. How times have changed!
Safety Detectives: What does the company do?
SDavis: RoboForm alleviates the burdens associated with password management by remembering and generating passwords, automatically logging into websites, and even completing long online checkout forms with a single click. RoboForm Everywhere is our flagship consumer product. RoboForm for Business is the business version for teams and large enterprises.
Our parent company Siber Systems also operates GoodSync, a powerful file synchronization software for individuals and businesses.
Safety Detectives: RoboForm is the OG password manager. What makes RoboForm unique when there are so many password management solutions available?
SDavis: Our unrelenting focus on the end-user experience. When you use a password manager you want to be logged in fast (and securely!). This sounds like a simple thing but in practice, it is very hard to do consistently because the internet is vast and every site or app is different. We always want to make sure you can log in with RoboForm on every site and–just as important–on every device or browser.
Our commitment to our users is further evidenced by the fact that in addition to fast 24/7 email support, we also offer live chat and phone support. Most other password managers will not put their customers on the phone with a human-like we do.
Safety Detectives: What are the worst cyberthreats out there?
SDavis: Ranking types of cyberattacks is pretty subjective. That said, it is undeniable that it sucks if you are the victim of one. There are however several types of attacks that a password manager can help you with. The most high-profile type of situation is when a large company with millions of users’ data is compromised. What can make this sort of attack more dangerous is when you use that same (now stolen) password on other sites. Sadly, far too many people do this because they rely on their memory alone. Instead, if you use a password manager and randomly generate a strong unique password for every site, then the only password that gets leaked to the dark web is a gibberish string you haven’t used anywhere else.
A password manager can also help you if you fall prey to a phishing attack. If you click on a link to a fake site, a password manager can warn you that you are trying to log in to a domain that is not correct.
Safety Detectives: How is the pandemic changing cybersecurity for the future?
SDavis: From a cybersecurity point of view, the pandemic has largely accelerated existing trends. People are working from home and shopping from home more than ever. So I don’t think anything is fundamentally different per se, it’s just that we are online more in general. Myself, I was already quite vigilant/paranoid before the pandemic. However, if folks have been able to spend some of the extra time this past year at home to update their passwords and set up 2FA (two factor authentication), then that is a small victory.