passwords posts

Filed under: Software

1Password 2.9 and the Agile Keychain

by Brett Terpstra (RSS feed) on Oct 9th, 2008

We may have mentioned it one or two (dozen) times, but 1Password is a great solution for securely managing passwords, credit cards and notes on a Mac (and recently the iPhone). If you're a 1Password fan, be sure to check out the 2.9 release from last weekend; it has a pretty huge new feature. For quite a while now there have been grumblings about the OS X Keychain being a bit of a beast, especially when handling large amounts of data. Rather than waiting out Apple for new improvements to the Keychain system, the stalwart coders at Agile Web Solutions decided to write their own.

If you dig into the Keychain section of the preferences in 1Password 2.9, you'll find an option to "Switch to Agile Keychain Format." What's the difference? First, it allows easy file-based synchronization, making possible non-MobileMe solutions for syncing up multiple Macs. Further, it maintains speedy access even when it contains gigs of data, as well as supporting much higher levels of encryption. Sounds good to me.

If you're ready to switch your keychain format, head over to the developer's blog for detailed instructions, and read up on the various options for automatic sync between Macs. 1Password 2.9 is a free upgrade for existing users, and new users can grab a free trial. A single license runs $39.95USD with a family pack available for $59.95USD. For the full changelog for this release, check the version history page.

Tags: 1password, agile web solutions, AgileWebSolutions, breakingnews, keychain, passwords, security

Filed under: OS, Tips and tricks, Mac 101

Mac 101: Retrieve lost passwords

by Dave Caolo (RSS feed) on May 21st, 2008

Everyone eventually forgets a password or two. It's OK, don't be ashamed. Even your friends at TUAW have committed this error. Honestly.

Ivan at CreativeBits offers a simple way to reveal a forgotten password with Mac OS X's Keychain Access application. You'll find it in your Utilities folder (which lives in the Applications folder). It lists all the passwords you've stored for different applications (wireless networks, FTP servers, etc.). Just select the one you're interested in and perform a "Get Info" by hitting Command-I. Good luck, and write it down this time, will you?

Tags: keychain, keychain access, KeychainAccess, mac 101, Mac101, passwords

Filed under: Security

Secure your Mac: Keychain on the move

by Michael Rose (RSS feed) on Sep 18th, 2007

Victor's Mac 101 yesterday gave you the basics of the Keychain, so we all know what it's good for -- keeping your passwords and credentials in a convenient, automatic and protected file. Still, that's an awful lot of passwordy goodness to keep in one place, especially if some of those passwords are controlling access to your financial or professional information.

Y'know, what would be really cool -- if you could do it -- take that keychain, and put it on a portable drive, and then you'd have physical control of your passwords even when you aren't with your computer... nice.

Conveniently enough, there's a great walkthrough at nevali.net to accomplish this exact task. The basic steps: make a new keychain (with a secure, complex password) and save it to your removable media; once that's done, set your default keychain (where Mac OS X will put new password saves automatically) to the new, portable keychain. From that point on, you can take your passwords with you -- just don't forget to back up that USB drive somewhere safe.

Thanks, Mo.

Tags: keychain, passwords, Secure Your Mac, secure-your-mac, SecureYourMac, USB

Filed under: Mac 101

Mac 101: Keychain

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (RSS feed) on Sep 17th, 2007

The Keychain on your Mac is a little application buried in the Utilities folder in your Applications folder. I say buried because I think Keychain is sadly neglected by most users. Here are some things you can do with it:

Save web page passwords
Save login info (aside from websites, like your IM logins)
Save protected notes (secret stuff)

This 101 will be a little longer than usual, so I can show you how to use Keychain to store passwords and other secret things. Later, in our Secure Your Mac series, we'll talk about making a good password so all these things stay private. Full details on how to easily use Keychain after the jump.

Continue reading “Mac 101: Keychain”

Tags: forms, keychain, lock, mac-101, mac101, notes, passwords, safe, security, utilities

Filed under: Software, How-tos, Internet Tools, TUAW Tips

TUAW Tip: Safari's reset button

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Jul 25th, 2007

Brandon sent us a great tip that I should have known was in Safari, but that I hadn't found yet. For you paranoids out there, the Safari 3 beta offers an easy way to clean up every single thing you've ever done, including the history, passwords, cookies, and even favicons and Autofill text. Under the Edit menu, there's a "Reset Safari" option which reveals a checklist that lets you hit the reset button on your browser. Firefox users like myself will notice that this was "gently lifted" from the Clear Private Data function under FF's Tools menu.

And it's not just for paranoid browsers out there-- the blogging engine here at TUAW, Blogsmith, is a great program but sometimes hiccups when the cache gets overwritten or pushed out of sync. When it does, the Reset options let me flush the cache in just a few clicks without losing any of my browser windows. If you ever run across a browser-based application that's not doing what you want, this is definitely an alternative to try before actually restarting the browser.

Tags: clearcache, cookies, downloads, edit, favicons, history, options, passwords, reset, safari, safari3beta, tuawtip

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