Microsoft’s decision to reset the passwords of 44 million accounts, is actually a good thing. If your account is affected, thank Father Gates, because Microsoft is alerting you to the fact that it searched a database of more than three billion leaked accounts and found information belonging to yours.

Firefox users recently pulled up their browsers to find that all their saved passwords went missing. If this happened to you, don’t worry: Your passwords haven’t gone anywhere, despite what it seems. 

It used to be that when someone died, their executor would follow a standard roadmap to settle their estate: clean out the house, go through the file cabinets, and file a tax return at the end of the year. Now this wasn't exactly easy - handling the administration after a loved one's death can be emotionally and logistically brutal - but at least everything you were dealing with was tangible. Nowadays we live our lives at least partly online, and that can mean a big headache for our families when we die: How do you sort through the deceased digital accounts and possessions when you don't even know what they are?

Netgear has warned customers that they have seen "suspicious activity" on user accounts associated with their Arlo security cameras. The company is very clear in saying they don't believe their systems have been breached. Rather, investigations suggest attackers may be using credentials obtained from other breaches and using those to attempt to gain unauthorised access to Arlo accounts. This is an object lesson in why you should use a unique password for every account and, preferably, use two-factor authentication on everything.

Password managers are an important part of our online lives. While Apple's Keychain works well enough if you live completely in their walled garden, the reality is most of us need a multi-platform solution. One of those options is OneLogin. And the company has revealed their systems were accessed by unauthorised parties this week.

"123456" is still the most common password that is used online. That's despite numerous security experts warning against using simple passwords.

Make it stop. We have some advice for people who are too lazy to think up secure passwords.

Passwords are a pain to manage, but that’s what Passwork is here for. It’s known as the “Dropbox of Passwords,” and will let you manage all your passwords safely and hassle-free.

It’s your chance to grab a subscription: these start at only $11.94 AUD .

Last week, we reported on a known security flaw in open source password manager KeePass 2. The software's creator had refused to fix the issue but it seems he has now done a backflip and issued a patch in the latest update of the software. Here are the details.