PASSWORD MANAGERS, anyone use them? Ideas? FREE ones or pay?

[mjp28]

PASSWORD MANAGERS, anyone use them? Ideas? FREE ones or pay?

I've been debating about using one for years.

Plus I'm ready to update all of my user names and passwords anyway.

Opinions? Suggestions? Recommendations on any?

[ampaterry]

Identity Safe is included in Norton Internet Security.
It is GREAT, works perfectly, and only requires logging in with a single 'master' password at the start of each session. It stores not only usernames and passwords, but also identity cards that make filling out on line forms (name, address, phone number, e-mail address, etc.) a matter of a single click -

AND - when I bought a notebook computer, It makes it easy to transfer the entire file and all that information to the second one also.

I can't address the security of the program itself, because I have never had anyone get on my computer and TRY to break into it, and the Norton firewall protects me from outside hackers -

But in general, I think password programs are a good idea. Without them, it is very tempting to use the same password at multiple sites, and that is NOT a good idea. With this program, that temptation is removed -

[FlashBang]

As someone employed in the computer security field, and based on 25 years experience in same, I recommend Password Safe. I use it for keeping my work and my personal passwords secure and available. It is free and very secure.

http://pwsafe.org/

*I am not affiliated with this product

[crystalphoto]

I use Password Safe also.

[gdmoody]

I allow Mozilla FIrefox keep the passwords on SOME of the sites I go to (such as TFF) I put all of my passwords into an Excel spreadsheet and I print it out. I have approximately 75 sites and passwords so I just look at the printout when I get ready to log on to most places.

[Alpo]

Or you could do like I do. Got them passwords on Excell, like Moody. But got THAT file on a thumbdrive. NOT on my computer.

If I need to go somewhere that I don't remember the password, I stick that drive in the confuser, open the file and look. Then I close the fire and open the site.

[mjp28]

Thanks everyone for the ideas.

I'm about to upgrade all of my user names and better yet passwords into my "4th generation" of passwords. Long gone are the pet names, common numbers, we're going real big, all 12+ and M1xEd $tuff.

Getting harder and harder to remember everything even though I have a master pad at home v 3.0.

Well PASSWORD MANAGER it is, just which to pick, I prefer FREE is it's secure enough.

[Bindernut]

I'm still a TXT file holdout too...but one of these days I'll lose both my flash drive and it's backup then I'll be SOL.
Password Safe does get good reviews but is Winders only.

Being that I'm multi-platform and multi-browser, LastPass looks awful tempting to me but I haven't DL'd it yet to try.
Anyone here using LastPass? And free or premium?

[Bindernut]

Originally Posted by mjp28

Long gone are the pet names, common numbers, we're going real big, all 12+ and M1xEd $tuff.

Since you mentioned leet-speak...
Keep in mind that most of that leet-speak mixed character **** is already in the cracker libraries too right alongside the real words they sub for so you still need to mix it up.

Steve Gibson has a really interesting read on password entropy on this page. http://www.grc.com/haystack.htm
About halfway down is a podcast of the Security Now! episode where he covered it in detail.
A definite must-read and must-listen if you're security conscious. It might surprise you.

[Buckshot]

I use the password manager in Firefox for routine business like TFF, where nothing substantial is at stake. (Sorry.) Passwords for financial or other private, secure or high-stakes stuff I never keep in Firefox or anywhere else in or on near the computers. I do try to keep an updated hard copy of all passwords stashed in a secure location. Every now and then my aging mind draws a complete blank on something.

A tip for the new, much longer passwords that some sites will require or accept: Find a long sentence, some phrase that has some meaning to you so that you won't forget it and use the first letter of each word, along with some related number. It has to be something that is easy to remember exactly the same way time after time.

[terryu1]

Agreed Buckshot. DO NOT keep any passwords for financial institution or any important sites on any internet based system. They can crack big business computers and gov't computers so I would not trust any with my money.

[cpttango30]

Last pass the best one out there.

https://lastpass.com/index.php

[FlashBang]

Originally Posted by Bindernut

Password Safe does get good reviews but is Winders only

Not true, There are versions available for Mac, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Android, Windows, Blackberry, Linux and Solaris. I use it on my Mac, iPad, Toshiba Thrive, Blackberry, Windows and my Linux systems. I use it to store the URL, Username and password for my work accounts and my personal accounts. You can have multiple databases, I have one for work and one for personal, and the database is encrypted as well as password protected. It also allows you to generate random passwords to whatever criteria you want. I am a big proponent of Open Source, I was a code contributer to the Open Source IPcop firewall project, and would rather spend my money on things other then software.

[Bindernut]

Flashbang,
Do you have links to the Android version? I did find the 0.8 Linux version on sourceforge now but I can't find any of the other operating systems that you mentioned.
I would be interested in checking it out because I too prefer open-source software. I am subscribed now...looking forward to seeing more.
Til then LastPass is still the best option that I've found to date.

[mjp28]

Originally Posted by Bindernut

Since you mentioned leet-speak...
Keep in mind that most of that leet-speak mixed character **** is already in the cracker libraries too right alongside the real words they sub for so you still need to mix it up.

Steve Gibson has a really interesting read on password entropy on this page. http://www.grc.com/haystack.htm
About halfway down is a podcast of the Security Now! episode where he covered it in detail.
A definite must-read and must-listen if you're security conscious. It might surprise you.

That's TRUE. I just put M1xEd $tuFF here just as a sentance and not a suggestion. For real secure passwords you want to really mix it up with non-words!

I'm still amazed in articles I read at all the qwerty and other really lame passwords a LOT of people still use! The Top 50 are so easy to guess and hack.

You really need things that are impossible to guess, spell, hack but you still can figure out...and I back up in a notebook that only I have access to.

I have a few neat ones that are theme orientated, one example I like chess. There's a gold mine there of moves, etc. Like start PxKN4.....(or whatever) and go from there.

Some of your hobbies are a good start.

[Kevin Rohrer]

I am sure there are free ones, but I paid for one called 1Password. It is on both my Macs and my iPhone. It does a lot including auto generation of passwords and rates the safety of passwords. It also backs itself up to Dropbox so they can be shared between devices.

[mjp28]

I've upgraded my passwords this year but it's a real pain with all the NEW and different PWs! I am finally going to get a password manager, I've looked at many but might get the FREE VERSION of LastPass. Comments or other ideas?

https://lastpass.com/index.php?fromwebsite=1

LastPass is one of those handy utilities that doesn't bother you; in fact, you may barely notice it at all until you need it. Once you install LastPass, you must create an account, which requires selecting a master password for accessing LastPass. And then you're up and running. LastPass is visible only as a gray icon in your browser bar, which changes to an easily-visible red if you're logged in to the app. (You can opt to stay logged in when you close your browser if you're using a secure PC.)

As you browse the Web, LastPass springs into action when you enter a username and password into any kind of Web form. A drop-down menu bar asks if you'd like LastPass to save the login info, which you can assign to a group. When you return to that site, LastPass automatically enters the login info for you. LastPass is a cloud-based password manager, as it syncs your encrypted data with its servers, but also saves an encrypted backup copy on your local machine.

LastPass offers a vault where you can organize and view information about your logins. You can see when you last accessed sites and can view your login info and assess its strength. If you want to change your Web passwords, but don't want to generate your own, LastPass will generate strong passwords for you--and using LastPass means you don't have to worry about remembering a randomly generated password on your own.....

[norahc]

I use KeePassX for all my stuff, work and personal. The ability to keep all the passwords in an encrypted file and store it where necessary, along with the free price tag and cross-platform versatility works well for me.

[johnnyehlers]

I use lastpass and am very happy with it. I haven't tried anything else so I can't comment any farther.

[mjp28]

Originally Posted by johnnyehlers

I use lastpass and am very happy with it. I haven't tried anything else so I can't comment any farther.

I've got LastPass FREE up and running, not bad once you get used to it.

Nice! Once you get all your favorites picked and all that, it does all the preparation and login work. Yeah I'd recommend it, only sorry I waited so long to do it.

[mjp28]

HOLY SMOKES! If you hit "OPEN FAVORITES" it goes and opens and logs you into all of them at once. Whew.

Computer toys can be fun....or scary at first.

[JonF]

LastPass. I agree that it takes a bit of getting used to, but it IS a nice thing to have.

[Woodnut]

I am very interested in Last Pass, would this be secure for banking or no. I have always had a fear of password hacking. Sounds like ya'll have found a solution to the problem. Guess I just need a little more convencing. I am a little reluctant for an outside company like Last Pass or any of the others of storing my passwords. Also what if I was somewhere else using someone else's computer, could I still log in.? Excuse me for being so dumb about this subject. But this is something new to me (I live a sheltered life) I need to do more exploreing.
Any advise would be appreaciated, and thanks to the main post on this subject, it has really got me to thinking.

[Bindernut]

Carl,
Lastpass is an excellent choice for keeping your banking passwords safe.
Your passwords are encrypted locally on your machine before the blob of encrypted bits is stored on their server for your remote access use. The encryption/decryption is done on your machine so there is no unscrambled password info flying around the internet.

If you are using someone else's computer, then yes you can log into your Lastpass account IF you install the Lastpass browser extension onto their machine. This needs to be done to get the software onto that machine so your password info blob can be unscrambled on that computer.
That's how Lastpass can ensure security with your info. The only place it's ever decrypted is on the machine that you're using.

The nicest thing about it is that you only need one main master password to remember. You really should have a good strong password (varied character types, long, and NO common dictionary words) for the sites you visit, especially banking stuff. With a good manager program you only need to remember one of those big gangly passwords instead of umpteen dozen.

If you visit their site, there are a few short videos with describing how it works. https://lastpass.com/

Since my earlier posts in here last fall I did take the plunge and go with the Premium version of Lastpass (mainly for the Android access feature but also to get rid of the advertising). The free version is a good one to try out to see if you'll like it and if you don't have a dumb-phone then you'll probably be happy with the free version too.

[todd51]

Carl,
Well us old guys can do it. I just went through the sign up and activation of my Last Pass account. Not a big problem and lots of help at the site.

Thanks to all here who have given advice and help. I feel much better now as I was concerned about maintaining safe pass words and now that problem is solved.