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By Mike Disher
Since I wrote my 3-part series on Passwords and Password Management, I’ve received several requests to review Password Managers and to recommend one. That might happen sometime in the future, but I’m not experienced at doing full-scale product reviews and so don’t really claim any expertise in that. What I will do though, is tell you which password management tool I have “landed” on, and explain a bit about why it works for me.
As mentioned in my blog, I have a few requirements that MUST be met.
1. The data file for the program, which has all the websites, descriptions, related usernames & passwords MUST be encrypted with a key that only I have access to…no matter where that file is stored.
2. The program must be useable across all the devices that I currently use. (In my case it is iPad, iPhone and Windows 7 desktops.)
3. It should integrate well with the major browsers.
4. I can store backup copies of the data file where I want to, in order to insure I've got safety access when I need it.
The program I decided on is 1Password. 1Password is a product offering of AgileBits, Inc., a Canadian company. This quality password manager meets all those requirements and more.
What I really like, and so do a couple of my readers, is that 1Password manages not only passwords, but also financial data, software licenses, identity information (SS info, driver’s licence, etc.), miscellaneous secure notes, and much more.
When you enter a password into your system, you either manually select a password, or you can have 1Password generate one for you, and you can set the strength and complexity to meet the requirements for the service you are logging into, or to your own personal standards, whichever is most desirable for you.
An additional feature that I find kind of neat, although I haven’t taken advantage of it yet, is the ability to add an attachment to any security record. Let’s say I wanted to store my Amateur Radio license information. If I so chose, I can attached a scanned copy of the physical license as additional documentation if I wanted to.
Another thing that I do use and think handy, is the ability to synchronize between devices by simply storing an encrypted copy of my data file on Dropbox, or iCloud. That’s really nice, and for personal use, it satisfies my security restrictions. In order to get the data, a “bad guy” would need to hack my Dropbox or iCloud account, and then they’d have to know my master key in order to decrypt my data file. And a further benefit to this is that the vendor, AgileBits, Inc., NEVER even see’s a copy of my data file…and that could be significant to you!
Many of the programs available will store all your information for you on their servers or in their “cloud” as they may say. But I’m not so sure I’m comfortable entrusting a vendor (that I often can’t even verify they are located on domestic or friendly soil) to hold on to my security data file, which may or may not be encrypted. Possibly I’m being a little paranoid…but if that paranoia protects my identity and data a little more…you can call me anything you want!
I can’t end without emphasizing however, that you really need to find the password manager that works for YOU! Your needs, requirements, tolerance and yes, even level of paranoia are different than mine.
So DON’T BE LAZY!! Seek out your own best solution. And please, please…feel free to share with me and our other readers any thoughts or comments you have on what you discover. We can all be wiser for it!
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Check back with http://dishtech.weebly.com weekly as we present “THE DISH” on topics of interest for the technology curious!
Since I wrote my 3-part series on Passwords and Password Management, I’ve received several requests to review Password Managers and to recommend one. That might happen sometime in the future, but I’m not experienced at doing full-scale product reviews and so don’t really claim any expertise in that. What I will do though, is tell you which password management tool I have “landed” on, and explain a bit about why it works for me.
As mentioned in my blog, I have a few requirements that MUST be met.
1. The data file for the program, which has all the websites, descriptions, related usernames & passwords MUST be encrypted with a key that only I have access to…no matter where that file is stored.
2. The program must be useable across all the devices that I currently use. (In my case it is iPad, iPhone and Windows 7 desktops.)
3. It should integrate well with the major browsers.
4. I can store backup copies of the data file where I want to, in order to insure I've got safety access when I need it.
The program I decided on is 1Password. 1Password is a product offering of AgileBits, Inc., a Canadian company. This quality password manager meets all those requirements and more.
What I really like, and so do a couple of my readers, is that 1Password manages not only passwords, but also financial data, software licenses, identity information (SS info, driver’s licence, etc.), miscellaneous secure notes, and much more.
When you enter a password into your system, you either manually select a password, or you can have 1Password generate one for you, and you can set the strength and complexity to meet the requirements for the service you are logging into, or to your own personal standards, whichever is most desirable for you.
An additional feature that I find kind of neat, although I haven’t taken advantage of it yet, is the ability to add an attachment to any security record. Let’s say I wanted to store my Amateur Radio license information. If I so chose, I can attached a scanned copy of the physical license as additional documentation if I wanted to.
Another thing that I do use and think handy, is the ability to synchronize between devices by simply storing an encrypted copy of my data file on Dropbox, or iCloud. That’s really nice, and for personal use, it satisfies my security restrictions. In order to get the data, a “bad guy” would need to hack my Dropbox or iCloud account, and then they’d have to know my master key in order to decrypt my data file. And a further benefit to this is that the vendor, AgileBits, Inc., NEVER even see’s a copy of my data file…and that could be significant to you!
Many of the programs available will store all your information for you on their servers or in their “cloud” as they may say. But I’m not so sure I’m comfortable entrusting a vendor (that I often can’t even verify they are located on domestic or friendly soil) to hold on to my security data file, which may or may not be encrypted. Possibly I’m being a little paranoid…but if that paranoia protects my identity and data a little more…you can call me anything you want!
I can’t end without emphasizing however, that you really need to find the password manager that works for YOU! Your needs, requirements, tolerance and yes, even level of paranoia are different than mine.
So DON’T BE LAZY!! Seek out your own best solution. And please, please…feel free to share with me and our other readers any thoughts or comments you have on what you discover. We can all be wiser for it!
- - - - - - - - -
Check back with http://dishtech.weebly.com weekly as we present “THE DISH” on topics of interest for the technology curious!