While I am a huge proponent of on-the-fly site-specific password hashing, like PasswordMaker, I find that “traditional” password vaults are still necessary. Not all sensitive information is browser-based, like PIN numbers or passwords used in desktop applications. My chosen password hashing method does not work with some sites due to stupid password restrictions. I also, regrettably, share some accounts with co-workers, so I need to use passwords they created. In all of these situations, I need to store the sensitive information in a password vault. I love the convenience and portability of online password managers like PassPack and Clipperz. However, I can’t shake this nagging thought: can I trust PassPack or Clipperz with my life?
Continue reading ‘Is it possible to trust online password managers like PassPack and Clipperz?’
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“Sorry, your password is too secure. Please try again with a password no longer than 6 characters, containing lowercase alphabets only.”
I am tired of being told by a website that my password is too long, or contains non-alphanumeric characters which aren’t allowed. I am bewildered that most websites balking at long and complex passwords are financial sites, like bank and credit card sites.
Continue reading ‘Sorry, your password is too strong, says financial sites. Why?!’
I ran out of adjectives starting with “S” to describe what I believe is the very best password management solution currently available, PasswordMaker. PasswordMaker is an implementation of the on-the-fly site-specific web password hashing system.
How many accounts/passwords do you have? One for your Email? Bank(s)? Credit card(s)? Phone companies? School? Work? Utilities? Google? Yahoo? Facebook? MySpace? Amazon? Ebay? NYTimes? Torrent trackers? That annoying website that made you register just to use the simplest feature? (Oh wait, every website is like that nowadays.) I think you get the point. Even the average, casual Internet user can easily have dozens of accounts/passwords. In this day and age, computerized password management systems are absolutely necessary for even casual Internet users, and PasswordMaker is the king of password management.
Continue reading ‘PasswordMaker: safe, secure, simple, site-specific, smart password management’
Update: My mistake. Michael Hampton is still supporting Bad Behavior. Maybe I’ll figure out what’s wrong after all.
I’ve disabled the Bad Behavior plugin because it was sporadically blocking me from my own site. Bad Behavior in theory blocks spambots and other desirables from viewing your website altogether, saving your bandwidth and resources and acting as a first-line defense, complementing anti-spam solutions like Akismet and the new Defensio.
I really love the concept, but since Bad Behavior blocks access entirely, false positives are very costly. Unwittingly blocking genuine visitors to my site would be very very bad. I’ve tried to find the problem following instructions from the FAQ and this blog post on false positives, to no avail.
Unfortunately, the plugin doesn’t seem to be in active development, and the email for reporting false positives appears to be dead. Oh well, I guess Akismet alone will have to do.
