Is it OK to use the password managers that are built into Chrome, Edge and Firefox? With recent updates to them all, the security factor of them has gotten much better. Straight answer is yes, they are safe to use, for the basic user.
If you just browse here and there, check email, and just simple things on the internet - yes this is an ok option and way better than using your birthday, dogs name, kids name, phone number, etc!
The only drawback to this is, its perfect to use on your home system. On a shared or public system, it can be dangerous. If you look in the top right corner of your browser - and you see your little icon sitting there, that means you are "signed in" and the browser will usually auto-fill your passwords for you. But as long as that browser is open, your passwords are accessible! On shared computers you should ALWAYS log out of the browser so that the next person doesn't have access to your passwords and any other information you store on your browser.
Another minor setback, is while you are on your computer with the browser open, and your signed in, the password information is accessible to hackers or anyone on your network that can intercept packets. Although I'm sure there aren't too many hackers trying to take over John Doe. It is just a notable thing to keep in mind.
3rd Party password managers are even better than the built in ones. (See my article on these here - Passwords & password reuse) There are quite a few out there, both free and paid options.
Here is a list of a few great options, in no particular order:
1. 1password
2. Lastpass
3. Bitwarden (this is a great open source, free password manager)
4. Dashlane
5. KeePassXC
Having a password manager means remembering only one password, not a ton of them, and also helps with not having to repeat use passwords.
Stay safe.
V.
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