Software that can
create and remember
different passwords for
different sites
Do your passwords measure up?
What makes for a good password?
Reconciling security and complexity
with usability.
Comparison of popular password
manager applications
Using a single password for everything?
Using your pet’s name for a password?
Using your grandchild’s name for your p/w?
Using ‘password’ for your password?
Using ‘123456’ for your password?
Using your birthday for your password?
Article in Nov. 2011 issue of The Atlantic by
James Fallow
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arch
ive/2011/11/hacked/8673/
Brought to the attention of NBCUG by
member Susan Philibert
Tells the story of a real life password theft
and the difficulties that ensued.
Any site that matters needs it own password
If you use an important password in two
places, it is no longer a valid password
Any step up from ‘password’, ‘123456’ or
your birthday or pet’s name is worthwhile
Problem – stronger passwords tend to be
complex, hence harder to remember.
Length – eight or more characters
Complexity – letters, numbers, punctuation,
symbols
Variation – change passwords often
Variety – different passwords for different
sites
Hackers steal passwords from poorly secured
sites and then try using them in more secure
environments (e.g. banks)
No dictionary words – ANY language
No common abbreviations or misspellings or
words spelled backwords
No sequences or repeated characters, e.g.
12345678, 22222222, abcdefg, qwerty
No personal information – name, birthday,
phone, driver’s license
Bad Password: Banana
Good Password: 5.ytT#0_xn0ATzQVN|
_yeGk2+0vFC2]ndZ
Great, but who’s going to remember that,
especially if you use a different p/w for
every site????
Password managers ‘remember’ your
passwords
Password managers allow you to use
different passwords for each site
Password managers can generate strong
passwords.
Password managers can link the site to the
password and call it up automatically
PassWordSafe – Elliott Alterman
LastPass – Ellis Miller
KeePass – Michael Sagaser
Ascendo DataVault – Jim Cason
Roboform – Wayne Maruna
Siber Systems is a privately-held company,
incorporated in 1995 in the Commonwealth of
Virginia, with offices in Germany, Japan, and Russia.
Five versions:
Free trial – limit 10 passcards
Roboform Desktop for Windows – one-time buy,
free minor updates
Roboform Desktop for Mac
Roboform Everywhere - use on multiple
computers – free major updates - syncs to each
PC you’ve installed.
Roboform2Go – extends Roboform Desktop or
Roboform Everywhere to a portable USB drive
From Fred Langa’s column in the 3/22/12
issue of Windows Secrets:
“Inthe case of RoboForm (and most other well-
known, Cloud-based, password-storage services),
your data is stored on their servers in well-
encrypted form. This means that even if
someone hacks into RoboForm's servers, he'll see
only strings of nonsensical characters — nothing
plaintext.”
From Fred Langa’s column in the 3/22/12
issue of Windows Secrets:
“RoboForm and similar services don't store
decrypted passwords anywhere on their Cloud-
based servers. When data is transmitted between
your device and their servers, it's sent and
received in fully encrypted form. Someone
successfully eavesdropping on your
communication link will, again, see only a
stream of gibberish — nothing plaintext.
Encryption and decryption take place only when
you command it, and only inside your local
device.”
From Fred Langa’s column in the 3/22/12
issue of Windows Secrets:
“The final concern is the communication channel
itself. Better services — including RoboForm —
employ SSL encryption (just like most bank sites)
to further protect all interactions with their
password-storage servers.”
