password protection software

[cookiemonster]

Hi I am thinking of getting password protection software any good easy to use ones.

 

[xrobwx71]

Give an example of what your goal is or trying to accomplish.
Are you wanting to encrypt files or are you talking about a password manager like Lastpass or Keypass?

 

[Bill_Bright]

or are you talking about a password manager like Lastpass or Keypass?

Yeah, what do you mean by password "protection". Do you mean a password manager, also known as a password safe?

Note in some places of work, writing down passwords is a crime! "Physical Security" is just as important as having a good anti-malware solution. The first place bad guys, the type that break into your home or office, look is somewhere within arm's reach of your computer chair! So not only do they grab your computer, they got all your passwords too!

The two xrobwx71 mention are among the most popular, but there are several others from the simple Password Safe and KeePass Password Safe, to the more feature filled Enpass and RoboForm too.

Unless you are a famous rich person, a "person of interest" in a criminal investigation, a spy, or the target of a stalker or vindictive spouse, or have a nosy teenaged child, whiz kid neighbor or nephew, you don't need the absolute best password manager out there. You just need one that works, and most importantly, you need to use it, and use it WITHOUT writing down the master password on a sticky note stuck to your monitor or "hidden" where no one will find it under the keyboard.

And while I personally am not a fan of browsers saving my passwords, all the major browsers have capable, integrated password managers too. They certainly are much better than writing them down, or using the same couple passwords everywhere.

One of the biggest advantages to using a password manager is you only have to remember one password - the master password into the manager. One of the biggest mistakes users of password managers make (besides writing the password down) is using a simple, weak, easy-to-guess master password. Don't use 1234, "password", your dog's name, street address, anniversary or birthdate.

 

[Solaris17]

And while I personally am not a fan of browsers saving my passwords, all the major browsers have capable, integrated password managers too. They certainly are much better than writing them down, or using the same couple passwords everywhere.

I agree with what @Bill_Bright mentions.


I can also add my experience. I personally use bitwarden which so far has been a godsend as it can store 2FA/ToTP codes, which allows me to transverse cell phones without google auth resetting.

I only JUST switched though, about 4 days ago. I resisted password managers for a long time, as bill mentioned I simply used what was in chrome. For me the technical transition was easy. I exported my passwords etc from chrome imported them etc. All of them offer this.

The difficulty for me atleast was learning how to use /IT/ instead of chrome, considering I deleted all my passwords from the browser after I made the switch (re-enforced the learning). That isn't to say it wasn't easy, it was. Just "different".

In any case if a password manager is what the OP is actually asking for, I do encourage there use.

 

[sky27709]

I second Bitwarden. Much better than Roboform which I used for many years until about 3 years ago. Bitwarden is free, open source and fully integrated into your browser. Nice mobile app version too. I export my passwords monthly as an encrypted file and save on an encrypted, backed up separate drive so I always have a protected copy (although I've never had a single failure with BW). It has auto-fill, secured notes, a credit card template and password generator built in. I set my wife up as a separate account and can share any or some of the passwords with her - if I change a password, hers automatically updates too. So far, I'd give it a 10/10. Oh, and customer support is pretty responsive and very helpful - I've pinged them a few tines and they always get back within a day or two.

 

[qubit]

or "hidden" where no one will find it under the keyboard.

Damn, I better move it now!

It's now safe and sound under the PC.

 

[cookiemonster]

The problem is my grand daughter who has adhd and learning difficulties realised she could sync with my system and transferred my email and passwords for different web sites and I just want to be able to put them somewhere safe that she cannot get to, for 11 she watches and picks things up very quickly on the PC.

 

[sky27709]

What does "sync with my system and transferred my email and passwords" mean? Where were your passwords stored? How does an 11 yo transfer emails?? Please provide details so we can help.

 

[cookiemonster]

In Microsoft edge you can sync with other edge users and I had saved my email and passwords to different sites so she could import my favorites and passwords to her system.

 

[sky27709]

I'd recommend a five step approach to get more secure. 1) Delete all the items she synced from yours to hers, and disable that capability 2) Use Firefox instead of Edge. 3) Install Bitwarden including the browser extension. 4) Import your stuff and become familiar with BW. 5) Never again save passwords to the browser itself.

All the above is even more critical if you saved passwords to banking, investment sites.

 

[Naki]

Get the girl her own MS Edge account maybe?

Firefox mostly proceeding on "life support" for years now, they are too dependent on Google ...

 

[Bill_Bright]

Firefox mostly proceeding on "life support" for years now, they are too dependent on Google ...

Huh? What do you mean? Firefox is NOT based on, or dependent upon Google/Chromium. It is based on the Gecko.

That said, it's integrated search engine is based on Google, and its Safe Browsing feature is from Google. But I would not say it is dependent on Google. It just is not re-inventing the wheel. And while I do not disagree that FF is losing market share, I would not say Google is providing life support, or that FF is on life support because of the Google code in FF.

 

[outpt]

dashlane. easy to use and free

 

[cookiemonster]

Sorry for not getting back to you but which one should I get

 

[Solaris17]

Try a basic one to see if you like it.

I got a premium account for like $10 a year for ToTP/2FA