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Password manager

14 years ago

A computer expert on TV highly recommended the use of a free on-line password manger, such as "lastpass.com." Is this a good idea, and what service do you recommend?

RB

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Comments (6)

cboy
14 years ago
I have a note pad for my passwords. Why would I trust
others with my passwords?
cg
grandms
14 years ago
I use Last Pass and really like it. It does take some time to get all your passwords entered and working. But it is very important to have a good, strong master password for accessing your LastPass vault. It was recommended along with another one by Kim Komando, and I found it easier to understand and use than some others. I had never used one before I started using LP about six weeks ago. Everything I read about it makes me feel secure using it.
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I empathize with your concern and frustration justme4know! If you chose to keep track of login and form fill history during installation and still have the LastPass extension installed, log back into it, open your LastPass vault, then click on the down arrow at the very top of your vault between the LastPass icon and your email address. Select History. Do you see any logins from strange IP addresses or any logins at strange times? Irrespective of the above results, I have no good news for you. The entries in question were absolutely generated using your login credentials, and those credentials are compromised. My opinion is based on the extensive scrutiny LastPass receives from independent security researchers and third party auditors. The LastPass code that controls hashing and encryption in the non-binary extensions has been viewable and testable by the public for the past 5 years. I'm certainly not saying that LastPass is 100% bullet proof and will remain so forever. I am saying that the most plausible explanation at this point is that someone has obtained your login credentials. I would strongly recommend using Better Half's computer to change all your passwords in the quickest time frame possible. You must use an extremely strong LastPass master password. I can point you to quality random string and random word generators if you wish. Please be sure to delete all vault entries that are not yours. If you notice any strange entries appearing after making these changes, you'll want to consider the possibly that your computer has been compromised. Locate a computer security expert(s) you trust and ask for advice on how to proceed.
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password manager
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Pooh Bear, I can't say with any certainty about the site limit, but in a cursory examination of their "premium" features page there wasn't a specific mention of any difference to the free version on that point. ?? Btw, on the tutorial page I linked to above, at right there is a link on importing from RoboForm, so if you do decide to make the switch, it should be relatively easy. :-)
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I have one crappy (short, letters only, and it's a word in another language) password that I use for all sites that don't store any information about me that I'm concerned about getting out. I have another longer, more complex (letters, numbers, special chars) password that I use for businesses that have gotten my credit card info. Then I've got yet another complex alphanumeric password that gets modified slightly for each different sensitive site. My email accounts each have their own complicated (letters, numbers, special chars) passwords. None of it is written down. The sites that screw me up are the ones that limit me to less than 8 characters (Why? Why do you want people to have easily hackable passwords?) and no special characters. Then I end up having to come up with something unique that I never ever remember. There are sites where I just type some random characters since I know I am going to have to use the password retrieval system regardless.
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I generally agree with the direction of the responses though not necessarily the overall tone of the conversation. For me, internet users have way too much paranoia and not nearly enough common sense. For the average person, access to your passwords (as if someone were busting their gut to get them, which isn't the case) will do what? Allow them to use your subscription to the NY Times, resume saved games you've played, see your sister's photos on Facebook? Yeah, really. Keep it in context. The risks are more imagined than real. Now, past that, nothing is better for keeping passwords than a piece of paper and a pen. That's what I set up for my 95 year old relative to use, it works fine for her. If you use your PC away from home, make it a text file high up on the folder tree on the hard drive so it's easy to find immediately. Even in its own top level folder. Take deep breaths, move on. Password containing apps or programs are really not necessary.
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owbist
14 years ago
Three passwords are easy to remember and like Cboy I do have them on a notepad right on my desk along with other stuff my feeble mind might refuse to recollect at the right moment.
bpgreen
14 years ago
I would never use an external password manager. I have a couple of reasons for that.

For one thing, if the external site is compromised, it doesn't matter how strong your passwords are. They're compromised.

For another thing, what if that place goes out of business? How will you find your passwords?

As for passwords written on a pad, that has some pretty obvious problems, too. If it's not handy to the computer, it's not going to be up to date. If it is handy to the computer, if you have a break-in, if the thieves are smart, they'll cover their tracks and just use the info in the pad (fortunately, most thieves aren't smart, but I wouldn't bet my life's savings on it).

I keep a password protected spreadsheet with passwords in it. I have tabs for different uses (financial, shopping, etc). I never use passwords that are in the English dictionary or would be if I changed 0 to o. I tend to use words in Asian languages and mix upper and lower letters and add some numbers and special characters as well.

Recently, a lot of hotmail accounts were compromised. The most common password was 123456.
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
14 years ago
I do not use password managers either, I keep a special notebook with all my passwords to individual sites, it is put in a secure location. I can not trust an outside source and I can not feel secure in a document on my pc in case of a critical failure and I could not retrieve it. I do also put my critical information on a flash drive and keep it in a secure location. I figure it someone breaks in and takes my computers and is smart enough to find my passwords then there is not much I could do to stop them. They will be going through hell to get that far!

I use extremely strong passwords never real words and always a combo of upper and lower case along with numbers and I do not use the same passwords over and over on various sites. Password creation is the one security measure so many users fall short on.
This site is one everyone should visit and pay attention to.
Password Recovery Speeds How long will your password stand up
DA_Mccoy
14 years ago
Ditto. I cannot find a reason to support the use of any type of password manager; on-board or on-line.

Let's be honest about passwords. 95% of them are of little value to anyone else and only an inconvenience of various degrees to a user if they were compromised. The world would not end if Photo Bucket, Garden Web and Hotmail became compromised. It's the other 5% which are critical. The medical, personal and particularly the financial sites. Now there is trouble.

DA

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