#AskJeffTech - What's the best password manager?
LOS ANGELES — In the wake of the Heartbleed bug, which put so many passwords at risk, Richard from Brea, Calif., asks about password managers. Which is the best one?
Well, Richard, there are a lot of them — including LastPass, Dashlane, 1Password, Keeper, and PasswordBox — and your question couldn't be more timely.
The idea is that with one of these apps and one master password — which you, and only you, know — you can manage your passwords without having to type them in endlessly and keep them out of the hands of hackers.
PC Magazine said it this week: "Going online without a password manager is risky business."
And you can't go wrong trying out any of the apps: They're free or cheap (mostly), and pretty similar.
All let you create the master password to manage your ever-growing list of passwords, and generate new, strong and unmemorable passwords that get stored and encrypted, so you don't have to type them in.
Most let you also store your credit card and address book info, and save you from the hassle of having to type them in over and over.
LastPass, Dashlane and PasswordBox are three of the more popular managers and very similar, differing in usability and interfaces.
Password Box, however, has two cool features I didn't see elsewhere:
— Legacy Locker. Store your passwords, and leave them to your loved one to keep that Facebook page alive or retrieve those airline miles after you die. Great idea, but good luck getting everyone to plan accordingly for the future. Are you ready to have this chat with your family? (PasswordBox will pass on the passwords to your designated person after submission of a death certificate.)
— Coming later this summer, you'll be able to sign-in to your favorite website via your heart rate. A new Toronto start-up called NYMI has a $79.99 heart rate wrist monitor that will work with PasswordBox to transact your sign-ins.
Most password managers use the freemium model. Hook you in with basic services, and get you to pay for more.
The free ends for LastPass and Dashlane if you want to use them on mobile devices. (Dashlane is $29.99 yearly, while LastPass is $12 yearly.) PasswordBox can be used on multiple computers and devices, but only for 25 passwords. After that, you'll have to pay too — $11.99 yearly.
The most common passwords, to this day, are still "123456" and "password". If you want to be safe, you have to come up with a good combination of letters, numbers and symbols. But if you're like me, you have a really hard time creating new ones — and of course, remembering them. All three password managers have great password generators that do the work for you — and of course, remember them, so you don't have to.
How safe are they? LastPass, Dashlane and PasswordBox all say they use multiple forms of encryption, and weren't susceptible to the Heartbleed bug. LastPass put a tool up on its website to help folks check to see if a favorite website is vulnerable.
Bottom line? My nod goes to Dashlane, because beyond the password managing, its credit card and address book tools work flawlessly, it also saves your receipts and has a great mobile app. With no restrictions on how many passwords you can save.
Password Box is terrific as well, but the tools to remember credit card info for check-out for e-commerce sites is in beta, and a little buggy, at least in my tests.
The big caveat to remember: you need to keep good records of your master password, as it isn't saved in the cloud (and accessible to hackers.) Lose it, and the managers can't get it back to you. You'll have to go in and save your passwords all over again. And what a pain that would be.
Folks, keep the questions coming in. Use the hashtag #AskJeffTech on Twitter, where I'm @Jeffersongraham.