Passwords
Visual Hashing Makes Sure You Never Mistype Your Passwords
Chrome/Firefox: If you regularly mistype your password because you're in a rush, Visual Hashing will turn your password into a colored hash to you can immediately see whether you've typed it correctly or not. More »
Reveal Passwords Bookmarklet Ensures You'll Never Get Locked Out of Your Accounts
We've long been advocates of random password generators and autofillers like LastPass, but using them means you probably don't remember your passwords by heart. This handy bookmarklet will reveal your autofilled passwords for you, replacing the cryptic dots for that session. More »
Password Sync Lands in Chrome Dev Channel
Google's Chrome browser has previously offered Google account syncing for preferences, themes, even extensions. Now, with the latest update, anyone using the Dev version of Chrome can sync their passwords across systems. If you're considering the move, though, also consider adding more security with an encryption passphrase. [Google Chrome Releases via Download Squad] More »
The Intermediate Guide to Mastering Passwords with LastPass [Video]
LastPass is easy, secure, and works across systems and browsers—it's our
Google Chrome users on Linux to get encrypted password storage
A bit of welcome news for Linux users who browse with Google Chrome: a change has landed in the Chromium source code which adds support for the built-in, secure password stores for both GNOME and KDE.
Why is this a big deal? Using Chrome's built-in password manager, anyone can click into your options > personal stuff > show saved passwords and view anything you've stored. Call me crazy, but any change which makes my stored data (especially login information) more secure is welcome.
If you'd like to give KWallet or GNOME Keyring support a try, you'll need to download a Chromium nightly build for your x86 or x64 Linux system. Once it's deemed ready for Google Chrome, support will arrive first on the dev channel build (as do most new features). Developer Mike Mammarella posted the following to the Chromium dev group following the change:
"I've recently committed r50475 which adds a new flag, --password-store, that lets you request GNOME Keyring or (KDE) KWallet instead of the built-in unencrypted password store.There are three possible values:
- --password-store=gnome
- --password-store=kwallet
- --password-store=detect (this will eventually be the default)
For now, without the flag, we will continue to use the built-in unencrypted store. With the flag, we will now try to use the requested store (or autodetect one, and use that) to store passwords, and we will migrate existing passwords to this store."
The GNOME Keyring worked well in my test, and Chromium was able to move all my stored passwords and accept new ones without issue. I feel much better about storing credentials in my password protected keyring than I do in Chromium -- which still lacks the option of a master password.
Password Sync Coming Soon to Google Chrome [Google Chrome]
It just landed in the open-source code for Chromium, so expect password syncing to arrive soon in Google Chrome's Dev Channel.
The Easy, Any-Browser, Any-OS Password Solution [Passwords]
Whenever we talk passwords, we always preach the same thing: Use strong, difficult-to-remember passwords, and different passwords for every site. Easy to say, extremely difficult to do through sheer willpower. I've tried many password-remembering systems, and this is what I've stuck with.
To paraphrase photographer Chase Jarvis, the best password manager is the one you have with you. Of all the password management utilities out there, I consider LastPass the most elegant compromise between convenience and security, and if you're not using it already, I recommend you start. It's mostly free, plugs into nearly any browser or smartphone, is KeePass compatible, and just works.