For a long time I knew it was possible to reveal passwords saved by your browsers but I learnt that most people don’t. This is pretty simple on some browsers but some require advance knowledge to do it. I’ve severally helped users retrieve their passwords by showing them how to reveal saved passwords on their browsers. Most of these users were left astonished beyond control and sweared to never allow browsers save passwords for them again.
There are many people with little or no knowledge that allowing browsers to save passwords could be dangerous especially on a public or work computer. It saves us time by avoiding logins every time we want to access secured websites. We however need to look at the consequences of allowing browsers save these passwords.

How easy can it be for Malware to pull these passwords off of infected computers? It’s very easy for malicious programs to retrieve passwords from your browser. If you haven’t protected your computer with a good antivirus, then you’re at a higher risk of freely giving your password to unauthorized programs. Some browsers don’t even apply encryption on the stored passwords. For more advanced details on how browsers store passwords, read “How browsers store your passwords“.
Other than that, the strength of our passwords is another reason why most accounts get compromised. Is your password as easy as 123? Using a weak password is same as using no password. Programs have been designed by hackers to attempt logins using the most common passwords. Such programs can run every word of the dictionary to attempt a login within a short period of time. Using passwords matching your name or username is not even acceptable on some websites. While some websites validate your password to ensure the strength is good, others don’t. So it’s upon users to ensure they choose their passwords wisely. There are tools available online that one can use to validate their passwords. It’s wise to ensure that the tool you’re using is credible. For example, you can visit https://howsecureismypassword.net/