Passwords – Problem Solved.

Following my post on the 8th May, I have been investigating ways of remembering all my usernames and passwords, whilst making the passwords stronger and making sure I can still log on to any site I need from anywhere.

The following solution looks like it will work for me.

I have decided to keep all my usernames and passwords in an encrypted file on my PC. There are a number of programs that enable you to do this, but the one I selected was KeePass.

http://keepass.sourceforge.net/index.php

I like this for a number of reasons:

1. It is easy to use.
2. It’s free (open-source).
3. There is a binary stand-alone version that can be run independently from a flash drive.
4. It is very secure, using AES and TwoFish.
5. It generates very complex passwords for you.
6. You cut and paste passwords from the package to the site you are logging in to, so it is safe from anyone recording key presses, as you don’t press any.

Point 3 Is very important. I use KeePass to generate very secure passwords that I could never remember, so I need to carry a copy of the database with me. So I purchased a very nice 1gb LG flashdrive for under £30 from here:

http://www.cclonline.com/product-info.asp?product_id=4056&category_id=147&manufacturer_id=0

I have installed the mobile version of KeePass on here and included a copy of the password database that resides on my PC at home. As well as providing portable access to all my passwords, it also acts as a useful backup, should anything happen to my PC.

Now I have a flash drive I can also carry copies of files from my PC with me. In order to do this in a secure way I downloaded Cryptainer LE from here:

http://www.cypherix.com/cryptainerle/

This product again comes with a mobile version that can be run directly from the flash drive, so it doesn’t need to be installed on every PC you might use.

The software creates a strongly encrypted vault on your flash drive into which you can drag and drop files.

So now I just need to remember two passwords, one for KeePass and one for the vault containing my other files. I can carry my flash drive safe in the knowledge that should I ever lose it, the data is not recoverable by anyone else.

I am happy with this new system. It’s much more secure than using easy to remember passwords and I don’t have to worry about forgetting them. Please let me know what you think and ways that you use to remember all your usernames and passwords.