Laptop users should not store their password on their computer and it should not be set to log on automatically.

Some password managers store passwords on the user's computer, whereas others store data in the cloud.

Password managers usually store passwords encrypted, requiring the user to create a master password; a single, ideally very strong password which grants the user access to their entire password database.

Security experts have expressed dismay that the company failed to follow basic safeguards - including storing passwords in a file entitled 'passwords'.

The most secure don't store passwords at all, but a one-way derivation, such as a polynomial, modulus, or an advanced hash function.