Password protection has historically involved encryption and personalized systems for building impenetrable combinations of letters and digits. In password creation, the best advice appears to be the more complex, the better. This seems good practice – at least until it’s time to remember the key. This is a challenge that will only grow with the mounting need to use different passwords for multiple communities in our online world.
To provide some relief, the open source community has come to the rescue. Listed below are two projects developed to provide secure storage and access to multiple passwords through one key on the PC. And best of all, they’re free.
One password anyone? See below for more detail on these password database solutions.
The first comes from Bruce Schneier, who has developed a solution that allows computer users to keep dozens of passwords securely stored on the PC and accessed through use of a Single Safe Combination.
Many computer users today have to keep track of dozens of passwords: for network accounts, online services, premium web sites. Some write their passwords on a piece of paper, leaving their accounts vulnerable to thieves or in-house snoops. Others choose the same password for different applications, which makes life easy for intruders of all kinds.
