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Managing Passwords In an Unsafe World

Sep 23, 2005

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Conclusion

I don't believe that consumer password vaults and biometric devices are ready for prime time, at least not for protecting commercial or financial data. Most of the software available is too primitive, limited in functionality, and/or easily circumvented. Although fingerprint reading is a sexy technology, the software bundled with the devices allows too many back doors into the data that the biometric devices are supposed to be protecting.

If I had to make a recommendation for home and small business users, it would be to use KeePass—storing the master key to the password vault on removable media that are never kept near the computer when not in use. (Placing a USB flash drive containing the vault key in the bag with the laptop defeats the purpose; if the laptop disappears, the key is likely to be with it.) By using KeePass, you can adequately store and secure most passwords, even if using the passwords is a bit more difficult.

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