One of the biggest byproducts of the digital/Internet age that I still haven't gotten used to is the ubiquity of passwords. They're literally everywhere. There's a password to get onto my computer, a password to access my wireless network, different passwords for all my email accounts -- and if you're like most Biz Fast Trackers these days, you have several. And then, of course, there are all those passwords to access the various websites I visit on a daily basis either to read the news, chat with friends and colleagues, or to purchase products.
Thankfully, most computers and web browsers have automated "key chain" features which remember your passwords for you. The problem with these is that they can occasionally get wiped after a system crash or when you clear your web browser's "cache" -- which is something you should do fairly regularly to help increase your Internet surfing speed. (On a related note, our Digital Grandparent wrote about how to clear your browser's cache. You can read her story here.)
I've also found that banking, credit and financial websites seem to go out of their way to make it as hard as possible to log into your account to pay them because of ever-changing username and password requirements For the life of me, I can't figure out exactly why this is. While some of it might have to do with security, some of it, I think, is a conscious effort to make it so difficult for you to pay your bills that you end up getting hit with an outrageous late fee which goes directly to their bottom line. (Ok, call me paranoid, but you can't tell me this thought hasn't crossed your mind too?)
Anyway you look at it, life has become awash in usernames and passwords these days and if you can't keep track of them things can get very frustrating. Even if you end up using variations on the same simple letter and number combinations -- which obviously isn't a very secure system -- you still have to remember the different variations since every log-in seems to have its own requirements.
The Key to Your Passwords
For the longest time, I kept all my user names and passwords in an ancient, spiral bound notebook that is now so battered and beat up, the pages are literally falling out. I'd be the first to admit that this hasn't been the best nor safest system which is why I was so happy to discover a free solution called KeePass Password Safe which is not only fairly simple, it's incredibly secure.
Developed and maintained by Dominik Reichl as a free, open source program, KeePass stores passwords, usernames, and URLs in an encrypted database which you can unlock with a single master password, a key file (a file on a computer which contains encryption or license keys), or a combination of both. Though KeePass was developed for Microsoft Windows, since it's "open source," the program's source code is available for anyone to tinker with which has generated Mac and Linux versions. The original KeePass for Windows is available here, while Mac and Linux versions can be found here.
The program is relatively small -- approximately 24MB for the Mac version -- and I downloaded and installed it fairly quickly. Because it's an "open source" program -- aka "freeware," the various websites where KeePass are offered are basic-looking and filled with lots of geeky language about encryption, along with extensive (read: boring) release notes about what's available in the various iterations of the software. One entry about the changes in KeePass from version 1.1 to 1.2 notes that there's an "added option to prepend a special auto-type initialization sequence for Internet Explorer and Maxthon windows to fix a focus issue (option enabled by default)."
Uh ok...whatever you say.
Clean, Simple & Secure
If you can ignore the esoteric language and no-frills host sites, you'll find KeePass to be a simple, clean, and efficient -- did I say "secure" already -- database system for storing your usernames and passwords. Open up the program and you'll be greeted with an uncluttered main window that mimics the basic look of Mac OSX or Windows. You can store your passwords into different groups -- Internet and Email groups are already there by default.
Like most databases, groups can be broken down into sub groups, all of which you can individually label from a large list of icons. For the Internet, for instance, there's a picture of a globe; for your email, there's a small envelope. You can also put an Apple computer symbol next to all your Mac passwords or a dollar sign next to your banking passwords. This is, however, about as cute as KeePass gets. Otherwise, it's strictly business.
You can create specific entries in each group or subgroup for all your passwords. For instance, under "Internet," I created entries for my credit card, car insurance bill, cell phone account and others. Each entry includes lines for you to plug in the corresponding URL, username, password and other data including a special "comment" section if you want to include any pertinent detail.
Small buttons at the top of the main window let you add, edit, or delete entries; or copy your various user names and passwords to a clipboard so you can paste them into your various log-in screens.
KeePass also automatically "rates" the quality of your passwords, i.e. how secure it thinks it is based on a "bit" system. If this makes you feel a bit insecure about choosing, for instance, "1234" for your password, you can have KeePass randomly generate a 200-bit encrypted password for you, using a combination of letters, numbers, spaces, and symbols.
If you're super paranoid -- and who isn't these days with rampant identity theft -- you can set expiration dates in KeePass for your passwords which forces you to change and update them on a regular basis. (Ok, this is going a bit too far for me but there are some people out there who will love this feature.)
Final Thoughts
If passwords drive you crazy and you're looking for a simple database to store your data for when your computer or web browser gets a sudden case of amnesia, KeePass is a helpful software manager that won't cost you anything -- though donations are accepted -- and won't take up much space on your hard drive. Better than that, KeePass offers serious encryption which not only keeps all your usernames and passwords handy, it keeps them safe from prying eyes.