Best password manager

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Chainsaw

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#85187 15-Jun-2011 14:51

Maybe a can of worms, but what's the best password manager. I'm on Windows XP.

I recently lost a flash drive on which I was transferring a password protected Word 2007 document with my passwords on. I have since changed the passwords I care about. How easy is it to crack a Word 2007 password?

xpd

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#481520 15-Jun-2011 15:02

Ive been using Whisper32 for years now to store all my passwords, never had an issue with it.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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SumnerBoy

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#481525 15-Jun-2011 15:06

I have been using KeePass + Dropbox for the last 6 months and find it pretty good. Using Dropbox means I can store my password database in the 'cloud' and access it from any device (including my Android phone which has a KeePass client). Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a client for iOS - the ones that are available (not from KeePass itself) are not very good.

Aside from that it is a very handy combination.

jbard

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#481527 15-Jun-2011 15:09

Chainsaw: Maybe a can of worms, but what's the best password manager. I'm on Windows XP.

I recently lost a flash drive on which I was transferring a password protected Word 2007 document with my passwords on. I have since changed the passwords I care about. How easy is it to crack a Word 2007 password?

Pretty easy, depends what it was though.

If it was more than 6 characters and contained some numbers/symbols then you should be ok.

If it was just a dictionary word or random letters then it would take <1 hour to crack.

Of course thats if the person who finds it know how to do it which is pretty unlikely.

muppet

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#481531 15-Jun-2011 17:03

SumnerBoy: I have been using KeePass + Dropbox for the last 6 months and find it pretty good. Using Dropbox means I can store my password database in the 'cloud' and access it from any device (including my Android phone which has a KeePass client). Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a client for iOS - the ones that are available (not from KeePass itself) are not very good.

Aside from that it is a very handy combination.

+1

It's amazing. I used to manually copy the Keepass database around. With Dropbox, it's just perfect. Up to date passwords on every device.

Audiophiles are such twits! They buy such pointless stuff: Gold plated cables, $2000 power cords. Idiots.

OOOHHHH HYPERFIBRE!

timmmay

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#481726 16-Jun-2011 09:17

SplashData works well on PC and iPhone.

Chainsaw

357 posts

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#481846 16-Jun-2011 13:55

jbard:
Pretty easy, depends what it was though.

If it was more than 6 characters and contained some numbers/symbols then you should be ok.

If it was just a dictionary word or random letters then it would take
Of course thats if the person who finds it know how to do it which is pretty unlikely.

Thanks. Sounds like I should be okay then.

Chainsaw

357 posts

Ultimate Geek

#481851 16-Jun-2011 13:59

Thanks for the recommendations. I'll go check them out.

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askelon

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#481855 16-Jun-2011 14:06

I use 1Password myself. Been using it about 6 months. It also syncs into dropbox and can be run on mobiles (except WinMo 6.5.x which I own of course!).. Its not free though.

Ragnor

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#481884 16-Jun-2011 14:40

KeePass, LastPass, 1Password.. there are heaps of options.

KeePass is the best free one though imo, most others are pay for premium features.

CapBBeard

211 posts

Master Geek

#481891 16-Jun-2011 14:52

I've been using lastpass for exactly a year now (I've just renewed my premium subscription - only usd$12, nothing too expensive), and I have to say I really like it.

The plugins work great in all the big browsers, there is no manual cloud setup etc, you can securely share passwords with other users, and they have a number of 2-factor authentication options (you can nominate 'trusted computers' that you can bypass 2-factor auth on, which I do for my home PC, but if I need to access something on a PC somewhere else, 2-factor is mandatory.. keeps the 2-factor security but saves the hassle at home). They also have an application for all the major smartphones (note that this requires the premium subscription).

They did have a security "scare" a little while ago but it looks to me as though they really went over the top with their response, and were pretty transparent about the whole thing, which I appreciated. And no, no password information was compromised.

Note that I have zero affiliation with them (I feel like I have to say that after the above rant, haha), just a happy customer. There's always going to be pros/cons to password management but no matter which you choose, having unique strong passwords for each and every logon with little hassle/mental strain really tips the scale in their favour imo.