(Seriously, the extensions page shows how easy it is for people to make extensions that do everything from improve the KeePass interface to sync the password database to Dropbox.) Furthermore, KeePass is fully open source, portable, and extensible. KeePass is, rightfully so, a long-standing favorite among people who want a solid password manager but don’t want to take on the risks (however well-managed and small they might be) of putting their password data in the cloud. If you bring up popular cloud-based password managers in conversation (especially among tech types) there is bound to be at least one (or several) people who chime in with “There is no way I’d put my passwords in the cloud.” Those people use KeePass. ( Update: LastPass now costs $36 per year.) You can compare the free and premium features here. A buck a month for advanced features is a bargain, even though you can get by without it. LastPass is free to use on desktop and mobile, though they also have a very reasonable premium model at a mere $12 a year. The actual password database is securely transferred to your device and decrypted there (and not in the cloud) so you can access the database without an active internet connection through your web browser, via the Mac app, or on your mobile device as long as you’ve logged into the cloud once in order to grab the database. In the above chart LastPass is flagged in the Offline category with an asterisk because while it’s technically an online password management system, it does work offline in certain instances. LastPass is primarily a browser extension, though it has standalone apps for Windows and Mac OS X as well. The LastPass security audit, for example, is a top notch experience that really makes it easy to both test the quality of your passwords as well as make changes to improve them. While many of LastPass’ features can be found in other password managers, the service was either at the forefront of pioneering certain features (or significantly improved them). LastPass is one of the most widely known and widely used password managers on the planet. While there is an inherent increased risk any time you store your password online, cloud-based password managers typically store the data as a securely encrypted file that can only be opened on your computer. There are two primary flavors of password manager: online managers that sync between your computers and other devices, and offline managers that store your password database on your computer (or, in some cases, a USB flash drive). These features can include, but are not necessarily limited to: And, if it’s any good, it’ll automatically enter them for you on all your favorite websites so you don’t have to.īeyond that, though, many passwords add extra features to try and go the extra mile and make your life easier. The Many Features of a Good Password ManagerĪt their most basic, every password manager worth its disk space will generate secure passwords in just a few clicks, and save them all in a database encrypted behind a “master password”. Further, unlike just writing everything down in a notebook, a good password manager includes extra features like security assessments, random-character generation, and other tools. But in an age when we’re all dealing with dozens (if not hundreds) of passwords, it becomes impossible to remember all those unique passwords.Ī good password manager takes the strain off you by helping to generate, manage, and store all those long, complex, and unique passwords better than your brain ever could. A strong password is long, complex, and different for every site you visit. This is bad, and makes it easier for hackers, phishers, and scammy-types to get at your data. There’s a good chance your passwords aren’t very strong, and an even better chance that you use the same one for many different sites. RELATED: Your Passwords Are Terrible, and It's Time to Do Something About It It’s not just for security exports and the paranoid: it’s for everyone. But if you’re on the fence (or don’t even know why you should be on the fence in the first place) let us start by saying: installing a password manager is one of the most important things you can do to keep your data safe and secure. If you’re the tech-savvy sort, there’s a good chance that you already know why you’d want a password manager, and you can skip to the good stuff. What Is a Password Manager and Why Should I Care? We’ve rounded up the most popular options and broken down their features so you can pick the right one for you. There are dozens of password managers out there, but no two are created alike.
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