Many businesses provide a free password manager to entice new customers, but typically have substantial restrictions that push them toward costly upgrades. The restriction placed on Trend Micro Password Manager’s free plan, fortunately, isn’t a deal breaker. Unfortunately, the limited options for importing current passwords, the archaic and insecure methods of user verification, and the lack of storage and sharing features are present in both the free and commercial editions. In our testing, neither the browser extensions nor the mobile apps allowed us to complete out forms. Even though it is free, Trend Micro Password Manager needs a lot of improvement before we can suggest it. Because Bitwarden’s free tier has no password entering limitations and lets you sync your vault across numerous devices, it is our Editors’ Choice winner for free password managers.
WHAT IS THE PRICE OF TREND MICRO PASSWORD MANAGER? Both free and paid options are available from Trend Micro. You can use the password manager and all of its functions with the free plan, but you can only manage and store a maximum of five passwords. You can upgrade to an unlimited password storage subscription for either a one-year or two-year membership for $14.95 or $24.95 respectively. You can sign into your vault on many devices simultaneously and sync your passwords across all of your devices.
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source code password manager At $10 a year, Bitwarden is less priced and offers a generous, unrestricted free tier. Dashlane also has a free tier, however it only allows you to save a total of 30 recordings. The cheapest paid service from Dashlane is $35.88 a year, but you can’t sync passwords with more than two devices at once with this tier. You’ll need to shell out $59.99 each year for Dashlane’s option to get rid of this restriction.
TREND MICRO PASSWORD MANAGER: HOW TO START For Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS users, Trend Micro Password Manager is accessible. Create a master password for your account on Trend Micro’s website to protect your password vault. In the event that you forget your master password, you also have the choice of leaving yourself a hint. It’s great that the website forbids you from using your master password as a clue. I advise utilizing a term that might trigger a recollection but isn’t overtly disclosing anything.
COMPARED PRODUCTS
0 NORDPASS (Opens in a new window)
Although many password management businesses are figuring out methods to do away with master passwords entirely, PCMag provides a guide for remembering special, challenging passwords. For subscribers, LastPass, for instance, provides password-free login options. Users don’t need to remember their master password if they are using a multi-factor authentication method like a mobile authenticator or biometric scan because it is more secure than using a password.
TREND MICRO PASSWORD MANAGER SETUP Trend Micro requests that you install their password management software on your PC after setting up your master password and accessing your online password vault. When I first launched the program after installation, a box inviting me to download the Trend Micro Password Managers Google Chrome browser extension appeared. Only Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari have extensions available for Trend Micro Password Manager. All of those browsers are supported by Zoho Vault, and it also provides Brave, Opera, and Vivaldi extensions.
During testing, Trend Micro Password Manager failed to record or automatically fill in passwords for software programs. For both desktop and web-based logins, RoboForm has the ability to generate and store passwords.
Most password managers make it simple to switch from one to another by accepting CSV files and letting you import passwords from dozens of competing solutions. It’s irritating that Trend Micro’s import feature only lets you import password lists from other Trend Micro products or credentials from Kaspersky Password Manager and LastPass.
If you didn’t previously use Kaspersky or LastPass, you must log in to websites using your previous passwords and save each one using the Trend Micro browser extension. It’s a laborious and time-consuming process, so maybe Trend Micro can one day increase its import capabilities to compete with its rivals.
BROWSER EXTENSION TESTING Although it only provides extremely basic functionalities, the Google Chrome browser extension functions as promised. The password manager will collect the information and save it in your password vault once you navigate to the website you wish to log into, input your credentials in the required sections, then click the pop-up to authorise Trend Micro preserving your data.
1 (Credit: PCMag) Once you have a few logins saved in your vault, they will show up in the window for your browser extensions. If you want to modify your login details, access the web vault by clicking the three vertical dots next to the login input. A login can also be deleted directly from the browser extension, although during testing, this feature was inoperable. When I tried to remove a login, it always vanished, but it would reappear when I opened the browser extension window.
The browser extension also has a password generator in addition to displaying logins from your vault, but that’s where the list of capabilities ends. The fully functional LastPass browser extension shows you the most recent logins you’ve made and lets you add new form-filling data, notes, and passwords directly from the extension window. Future improvements to the Trend Micro browser extension’s features are something I’m hoping for.
A PASSWORD GENERATOR WITH LIMITS The ability of a password management application to generate and save intricate, protracted, and singular sequences of characters for you to use as passwords is one of the biggest reasons to use one. I always advise adding symbols to your password and making it at least 20 characters long.
2 (Credit: PCMag) The default setting for the password character limit in the Trend Micro Password Managers generator is eight characters. Competitor password organizers like NordPass, which allows you to specify a password length of up to 60 characters, automatically generate 12-character passwords. The character limit and default password settings should be increased by Trend Micro, in my opinion, to make passwords more safe and challenging to decipher.
Only the mobile app and browser extension versions of the password manager have the password generator. I suggest Trend Micro take into account adding a password generator for its web vault as well.
AN UNPLEASANT WEB VAULT Your accounts web vault allows you to store a lot of your personal information, however it has few features. There are three tabs at the top of the dashboard: Passwords, Form Filling, and Secure Notes.
3 (Credit: PCMag) You may see a list of your logins by selecting the Passwords tab. Additionally, you may view which passwords Trend Micro rates as secure or not. Despite just having eight lowercase letters and digits, both of the passwords I produced during testing (because the web vault does not feature a password generator) were found to be secure. Because they are short and lack symbols or mixed case, password managers like NordPass or Enpass would have recognized those as weak.
4 (Credit: PCMag) Although Trend Micro’s password manager’s form filling setup is simple to use, there aren’t many ways to enter data. You can fill out a section with your basic information, including your name, birthday, gender, employer, and work title. Additionally, there are spaces for you to fill out with your contact information, and the vault can only hold one credit card number. In contrast, Keeper provides 18 distinct types of record templates that you may use to fill out online forms, ranging from banking information to health insurance applications.
5 (Source: PCMag) You can keep written information that you want to keep private in the vault’s safe notes section. Keep any additional payment card information, safe codes, or other personal data here. You cannot upload or attach any type of file to your Trend Micro Password Manager vault, which is disappointing, unlike every other password manager I’ve tested with a safe notes option.
SMALL FORM COMPLETION Unfortunately, utilizing the Google Chrome browser plugin to fill out forms didn’t function on my Windows desktop. I also had trouble filling out forms while using the iOS app and while using Chrome and Safari to access websites.
On a number of websites, including the USPS and the RoboForms form testing page, I tried to fill out forms. Single-click form filling is a feature that is integrated into the majority of other password managers’ browser extensions and mobile apps, like LastPass. The browser plugin simply fills the text field with the necessary data when you click or tap on it. In a later version, I hope Trend Micro will address this restriction.
OPTIONS FOR OUTDATED AUTHENTIFICATION Using multi-factor authentication for all of your online accounts is something I strongly recommend. Using a biometric token or mobile authentication app to secure your vault in addition to a master password can add an extra degree of security between you and a malicious attacker.
Multi-factor authentication is a feature of Trend Micro Password Manager, but some of the authentication tokens it supports are obsolete and not very safe. You have the option to choose between using your device’s fingerprint or face scanner for biometric authentication on the mobile app. You can authenticate online using an authenticator app code, SMS codes, or email codes. I do not advise utilizing email or text messages for authentication because email accounts are popular targets for hackers and SMS texts can be redirected.
Because there are so many alternative safe ways to authenticate your account, most modern password managers don’t even support email authentication anymore. Keeper, for instance, can register FIDO2 keys. Zoho Vault supports multi-factor authentication with Touch ID, voice calls, SMS-based one-time passwords (OTP), physical security keys, authenticator apps, and voice recognition. Trend Micro needs to enhance its options for authentication.
AFFORDABLE MOBILE APPS On an iPhone XS, I installed the Trend Micro Password Manager software. There is also an Android version accessible. In comparison to the web vault and browser extension, the vibrant iOS app is far more appealing.
You must agree to the terms of Trend Micro’s Privacy and Personal Data Collection Disclosure agreement before using the app for the first time. According to Trend Micro’s website explains how they use your data (Opens in a new window) , the business will gather some of your personal information. Before deciding to use the app, I advise reading their collection and usage policies carefully.
A STRAIGHT-UP MOBILE VAULT A navigation bar with the following categories may be found at the bottom of the apps vault screen: Passwords, Secure Notes, Tools, and Settings. You can tap on a login entry in the Passwords section to edit the information in the fields. The program also offers to use Trend Micro’s ID Security feature to keep track of each login’s email address. Later in this review, I’ll go into more detail on ID Security.
6 (Credit: PCMag) In comparison to the web vault, the Secure Notes area offers more categories, including those for bank accounts, membership cards, contacts, credit cards, and passports. Oddly, despite the fact that both categories contain data that might be used to fill out web forms, the data I submitted in the Form Filling category in the web vault is kept in a completely different location in the iOS app.
You may view your ID Security settings and data under the Tools area. Additionally, there are password generators and a Password Doctor that claim to examine your password hygiene but do not provide any guidelines for identifying good or weak passwords.
The AutoFill Passwords tab in the Tools section also contains a video that demonstrates how to enable auto-filling on your iPhone using an outdated iOS settings menu. This video needs to be updated or taken down by Trend Micro.
The Seamless Browsing tab under AutoFill Passwords launches the Trend Micro web browser. Login fields are not automatically filled by the browser. Your username and password will show after you click the View Saved Passwords button at the bottom of the screen. It is scarcely a smooth method to copy the data and paste it into the form fields.
A tab titled “More Devices” is located below Seamless Browsing. You’d assume that tapping it would display every device linked to your Trend Micro Password Manager account. There isn’t. Instead, a shortened URL to the program download page is provided, allowing you to set up the password manager on several devices.
The information you supplied in the Web Vault’s Form Filling part is all included in the Personal Details tab. You may manage your subscription, authentication, and security settings in the app’s Settings area.
Significant feature improvements and rearrangement of the user interface are required for the Trend Micro Password Managers iOS app. Enpass provides user-friendly, visually appealing mobile password management apps with powerful password auditing capabilities, form-filling, and TOTP generation.
EASY ID SECURITY These days, data breaches are routine, but that doesn’t make them any less harmful. You can monitor up to five email addresses, one national ID (which requires providing your Social Security number if you’re in the United States), ten credit card numbers, five bank accounts, one drivers license, and one passport if you choose to use Trend Micro’s mobile app-only ID Security feature. Trend Micro will notify you if any of that data is discovered on the Dark Web.
Utilizing this function entails giving a corporation access to a lot of sensitive information and placing your trust in them. I advise against using this feature.
7 (Credit: PCMag) I have observed ID Security in various password managers. Other managers don’t ask for any more information from you, but they do keep an eye on a small portion of your internet activities. For instance, Keepers BreachWatch only identifies credentials that were included in a list of data breaches.
WHAT IS MISPLACED? Trend Micro doesn’t provide a mechanism to quickly and securely share passwords with others, in contrast to the majority of other contemporary password managers. Additionally, there are no mechanisms for password inheritance, so you can’t give someone you trust access to your logins in the unfortunate event of your passing. All of the password sharing and inheritance options offered by Bitwarden, LastPass, Keeper, and Zoho Vault are secure.
NEEDS TO BE IMPROVED The password management software from Trend Micro requires urgent update. Login information can be captured and stored by the browser extension and mobile app, but the majority of other fundamental features, such as credential imports, form filling, multi-factor authentication, and password generation, are either severely limited or completely broken. Therefore, even in its free form, we are unable to endorse Trend Micro Password Manager.
The open-source Bitwarden is our top recommendation if you’re looking for a free password manager because of its noticeable absence of limitations. Our Editors’ Choice winners for password managers include Keeper, LastPass, and Zoho Vault if you’re prepared to pay for it. These password managers are more elegant and feature-rich than Trend Micro and Bitwarden combined.
Password Manager by Trend Micro
Image of Trend Micro’s password manager;
inside Trend Micro
Pros Free tier and affordable paid options Cons In tests, the ability to fill out forms was unsuccessful. Options for multi-factor authentication and import are extremely restricted. accepts flimsy passwords Read More the conclusion Although Trend Micro Password Manager is free, it has to be completely redesigned to keep up with contemporary password management programs.
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