KeePass Password Safe - Computer Password Database

It’s in the Vault

KeePass is a database that stores all your passwords and uses one master password access that database. Don’t worry - the information is encrypted. The database contains fields for user name, password, URL and notes associated with each login. Thank goodness. I hate, hate when websites require some sort of special rules like “you must use 4 characters, 2 numbers, one special character and by the way, what is the name of your first pet” deal. That TOTALLY wrecks my normal password system. So what do I end up doing? Having to reset the password each time I visit a site I don’t use often that requires all of the madness. This certainly helps. Especially for business travelers who aren’t carrying around the sticky note that’s found at the bottom of their desk drawer listing the important passwords.

According to the website, “KeePass is a free/open-source password manager or safe which helps you to manage your passwords in a secure way. You can put all your passwords in one database, which is locked with one master key or a key-disk. So you only have to remember one single master password or insert the key-disk to unlock the whole database. The databases are encrypted using the best and most secure encryption algorithms currently known (AES and Twofish). For more information, see the features page.” Hmmm.

If you want to use a master password to access your database (yes, please), just enter one into the password field. If you need to do something like store a KeePass database on a shared computer, you can use your thumb drive as a key to unlock it. Awesome.

The best part is that KeePass is FREE. Find it at http://keepass.info/.