Why I desire this lo-fi password supervisor over swanky fashionable ones
Password managers are one thing everybody ought to have, however you in all probability don’t wish to spend a lot time or power fascinated by it. You wish to set it, neglect it, and let it do its factor.
However as the assorted password managers compete with one another, they’re continuously including new options that maintain complicating what ought to be easy. Furthermore, passwords saved within the cloud are susceptible to knowledge breaches, as we noticed with LastPass and Norton LifeLock.
Luckily, I haven’t needed to take care of any of that. I’ve been utilizing the identical lo-fi password supervisor for almost 20 years—and because it’s totally offline, I by no means fear about knowledge breaches or password leaks. My password safety is totally as much as me, and I get to benefit from the simplicity of a retro-style interface that by no means modifications.
I exploit an open-source password supervisor referred to as KeePass and I completely adore it. Right here’s why I desire it over the larger identify options and why you may wish to contemplate switching to it your self.
It doesn’t really “know” something
Of the numerous causes I like KeePass, an important for me is that it’s a “zero-knowledge” app. It makes use of zero-knowledge encryption when storing my knowledge—passcodes, keyfiles, the whole lot else—in order that even KeePass doesn’t really “know” what I’m storing.
With KeePass, nothing is saved on the cloud; the whole lot is saved regionally on my system and is encrypted with one single grasp key. Solely I do know what my passwords are and solely I can entry them. Even when KeePass have been ever compromised, it actually doesn’t know something.
KeePass
So as to hack my KeePass passwords, you’d have to achieve bodily entry to my system, then hack my mind for the grasp key. And positive, that is technically a “five-dollar wrench drawback” for anybody who needs my passwords, however they’d must get previous my French bulldog first.
Jokes about my pet apart, KeePass is as safe as I want it to be. I’ve layers of redundancy, backups, and extra safety past its base choices—however that’s all right down to me. I determine it, I management it. I don’t have to worry my password supervisor being hacked or leaking my info, nor do I want to fret about my passwords being offered to a three-letter company as a result of they coerced the developer.
It’s open-source and reliable
I belief KeePass. Not simply because it’s as safe as I select to make it (see above), however as a result of it’s been round for a very long time and has by no means been concerned in any controversies or embroiled in any scandals. It’s additionally totally open-source, so you may pry into its code and see precisely what it’s doing. It has nothing to cover.
Are there potential methods to breach KeePass’s safety? In fact! The builders even maintain an inventory of safety points on their web site. However these are nearly solely solely exploitable on an already compromised system. You probably have malware in your PC, no password supervisor might be resistant to additionally being compromised.
KeePass has gained a number of awards and proposals, and it’s been independently audited with no safety points discovered (PDF). It’s additionally been ported to numerous working methods and platforms, and third-party instruments leverage KeePass’s databases for password safety. I really feel safe understanding that if there have been any main issues with KeePass’s safety, somebody would have referred to as it out by now.
It’s closely customizable
KeePass provides you the instruments you could customise your password safety to your tastes. You will have a grasp password as commonplace, however you may mix or supplant that with a keyfile which you need to level KeePass at earlier than it’s going to decrypt your password database. You possibly can add two-factor authentication, too. That’s simply the beginning of how one can increase your safety and extra.
KeePass helps a big repository of plugins and extensions to broaden its capabilities past its admittedly barebones setup out of the field. There are extensions for importing your passwords from different password managers, plugins for rapidly updating and producing new passwords, and a lot extra.
KeePass
I gained’t element my very own private setup, however suffice it to say that KeePass is as in depth as I can conveniently handle. And although I preserve the retro look of KeePass, I’ve loved experimenting with completely different extensions through the years to reinforce its core capabilities.
That mentioned, it’s honest to say that KeePass isn’t fairly as feature-packed as another password managers. However if you’d like it to do one thing it could’t, there’s probability there’s a plugin to make it doable.
It seems to be previous however feels acquainted
As my older pals like to inform me, I’m not that previous. However in my late 30s, I’m sufficiently old to have my preferences and to search out re-learning new consumer interfaces considerably of a chore.
Whereas there’s an argument to be made that KeePass seems to be extremely dated, I really discover its Home windows XP-era UI refreshingly acquainted and as easy as I want it to be.
KeePass
It’s not significantly intuitive by fashionable requirements, however once you’ve been utilizing it for the higher a part of 20 years, it seems like second nature. I do know the place the whole lot is—however extra importantly it’s not being overhauled each few variations and making me marvel the place my login info is after I simply wish to register someplace.
If KeePass revamped itself to turn out to be extra intuitive for brand spanking new customers, it could really turn out to be much less intuitive for these of us who’ve been utilizing it for thus lengthy. And in addition to, if you’d like a unique UI, that’s what KeePass’s GUI choices and numerous forks are for.
It grants full management over safety
Most fashionable password managers are designed for the bottom frequent denominator. They wish to draw folks in with comfort and flexibility—and they need to, as a result of retaining observe of passwords is a royal ache and we ought to be making it simpler for on a regular basis folks to safe their passwords and accounts.
However that’s not how I need my password supervisor to work. The place different password managers wish to maintain your hand and mechanically counsel passwords, sync throughout gadgets, auto-fill the whole lot, and many others., KeePass doesn’t do any of that until I need it to. It doesn’t have that overbearing oversight, guiding me alongside rails, or managing my safety in a approach that’s by the ebook fairly than by my very own requirements.
KeePass
With KeePass’s hands-off method, I can use its sturdy auto-generated passwords if I need, or I could make them myself. I can have it auto-fill types, or I can manually copy and paste the whole lot. I don’t want to fret about its integration with third-party apps leaking my knowledge by way of my browser—as a result of I simply don’t let it do any of that.
KeePass isn’t only a instrument that permits higher safety, it additionally provides me full autonomy. Simply as I belief it to maintain my login knowledge safe, it trusts me to make use of it in the way in which that makes probably the most sense for me. That may go away you extra susceptible in case you don’t use it correctly, however it could additionally make you higher protected towards all method of threats that different password managers go away you inclined to.
It’s the whole lot I want, after I want it, and solely extra if I need it to be. That’s the form of password supervisor for me.
Oh, and did I point out it’s 100% free?
