Life In 19x19

Does anyone have one? I've been telling myself that I need a password manager for a long time now, and now that I'm at work, I have a bunch of new passwords to keep track of and I've reached the tipping point of having too much to remember.

I currently use Ubuntu at home, Windows 8 at work, iOS for my iPad, and I'm toying with the idea of buying a Mac in the next year, so I need platform flexibility. I don't know if it's realistic to ask for an application that works well everywhere, in which case what do you do to keep your passwords in sync between different platforms?

I like free, but paid is ok.

I use 1Password, but AFAIK they have no Linux version (yet?). Nevertheless you could still use the 1PasswordAnywhere feature to view your stuff on Linux.

AFAIK there is at least one other cross platform PW manager but I neither remember its name nor can I say anything about it.

HTH, Tom

hyperpape wrote:I like free, but paid is ok.

Take a look at LastPass: https://lastpass.com/

Free is browser based, Premium ($12/yr) includes mobile clients (Android, iPhone, etc.).

Keepass seems to fit the bill: http://keepass.info/download.html

According to their website, they can run on Linux/Mac via the Mono .NET framework. On Ubuntu you should be able to apt-get install keepass2. Their download page includes apps for iPad/iPhone.

I have no personal experience with this product though.

My vote goes for 1Password mentioned already by Bonobo. It's very good software with good integration with desktop internet browsers. 1Password apps are available for iOS, Mac OS X, windows, and, as Bonobo wrote, even on linux you can use it in some limited form. It's little expensive on iOS but on desktop you can use it free even after trial ends, though with some limitations. Try it before buying.

Mature, free (beer) & open source, password safe, the continuation of Bruce Schneier's baby.

If you want to spend money, I would look at Yubico for password safe or LastPass.

I've been using keepass for a few years now, and have no complaints. There is a portable version, as well as versions for various platforms.

daal wrote:I've been using keepass for a few years now, and have no complaints. There is a portable version, as well as versions for various platforms.

I vote for keepass as well. A nice feature is that you can sync databases between platforms, so I have the Linux version at home sync to the Android version on my phone (mounted as a USB drive), which syncs to the Windows 7 version at work.

This one is free too

I'm good at mental math, but I can't do encryption in my head.

Fedya wrote:This one is free too

That's not a terrible pw manager, but considering it can be read by anyone who has access to it, it is recommended that you manually encrypt your passwords before committing them to paper. Then, it will be important to utilize a system that is both easy to remember and implement on-the-fly, but is also non-obvious. Also, don't include information that would indicate where each password is used, or what username / logon id it is paired with.

When I moved to a Mac last summer I installed 1password on my Mac and iPad, but its not available for Linux and you have to buy separate licenses for different pcs. My second choice was Lastpass. It's been vetted extensively since in addition to the free personal version and the inexpensive portable version it has a commercial service. Steve Gibson, who's been in the software field for years, has written on it extensively. I believe that he researched it for his business.

Come to think of it, my oldest and second most secure password is actually a simple mental cipher for an ordinary word, plus a bunch of non alphabetic characters.

I had memorized it so completely, that I often forget that it's a cipher. But it helped me remember back in the day.