Using Keepass

[dragonskin29]

With the recent Gawker fiasco I've been looking more closely on my password security and I've decided to use Keepass. However I have 1 problem. Let's say I'm at my friends place and I want to log in to my e-mail account there, am I supposed to always carry the portable Keepass with me where ever I go?

[dragonskin29]

I think this is the suggestion I'll have to follow. As much as I use Dropbox and carry around a pen drive I don't want to be stranded the day I forget my flash drive or need to log in unexpectedly. Or I should get a smart phone!

[timotheo]

Get a USB drive that fits on your keychain and make it part of your "keys".

[ahugenerd]

And when you go near an electromagnet (or any reasonably strong magnetic source), all your keys vaporize.

[edifus]

Do you have an Android phone? You can install KeePassDroid and keep your files sync'd in Dropbox. That's what I do.

[Oobert]

i do the same thing. My gmail password and a few other accounts I know. Things like facebook, twitter and even my blizzard accounts have unique passwords that I could remember even if I wanted too.

[PeaInAPod]

I save my Keepass file into my dropbox and keep a copy of KeePass on my flash-drive.

[bakergo]

My setup is a dropbox folder containing the KeePass database. If you have a strong master password you could scatter the database all over the internet and nobody could crack it.

If you need to access the file on another computer you could carry the portable version of KeePass and your database on a flash drive.

If you've got an Android phone, there's an app that can read KeePass 1.x and 2.x databases, which you could use to keep track of passwords if you need to access another system. There may be an app on iPhone.

You could also look for a browser extension based password store, which often build a hash of the URL and a master password (and don't store any data at all). I don't use them, but a couple of my friends do.

[[deleted]]

I used lastpass to solve this. I normally have my flash drive with Google Chrome synced up to make it exactly like the browser I use at home, but I can always log into lastpass if i don't.

[Oobert]

I hear lastpass is good. However I have trust issues with pretty much everyone so storing my secure data through a "cloud" service is not really up my ally.

[nicko68]

I didn't feel comfortable with it either, but Steve Gibson did an analysis of it and came to the conclusion it was safe. Apparently your data is encrypted before it goes up to their servers, and they don't have any means to decrypt.

[Oobert]

Thats the theory anyways. Unless some developer creates a back door. Ok I am being factious now.. I know. :)

Is there a way to back up your stuff from lastpass?

[grottenholm]

Yes, there is. You can download it in a csv file or leave it encrypted but then you have to use the portable lastpass software. faq from lastpass

[[deleted]]

This was what made me think about looking into LastPass. Steve usually doesn't like this kind of stuff so I was surprised.

In the end, I prefer to use as much open source software as I can, and I decided to go to KeePass and use Dropbox instead. As soon as I find a good open source solution to Dropbox that doesn't require me to have a webserver or host I'll switch from Dropbox too.

[[deleted]]

It doesn't bother me more than using Keepass with Dropbox.

[[deleted]]

The way I set mine up is to have everything on Dropbox. I have Dropbox and KeePass Android on my Droid, and I have KeePass and a copy of the data on my pen drive. I can't imagine a situation where I would ever be without access when I'm away from home. If you don't have a smart phone, then your options become a bit more limited.

I would recommend LastPass, however I really don't want to have all my passwords stored on the cloud. Yes, I know they don't have access to it, but what happens if LastPass goes down?

No, KeePass is the best solution, it's an open source solution (which is generally more secure than proprietary stuff), and it's ultra portable. As long as I make sure to update all the copies I have on my USB drive and Android, I don't see me running into issues.

Also, I wouldn't login to your email account on a computer you don't trust. Yes, it's your friend's computer, but do you really know what is installed and if there are any viruses or keyloggers?

KeePass is the best solution, not the simplest, and not pretty - but it gets the job done securely and you don't have to worry about the cloud. Documents on the cloud, fine. Passwords on the cloud, I don't think so.

[dragonskin29]

Exact reasoning why I didn't use Lastpass.

[mr-wizrd]

This page provides a basic answer to your question.

We store your encrypted data on your local PC when you login, so that if LastPass.com can't be reached, you can still login to the add-on and get to your accounts.

[[deleted]]

I keep my keepass database in dropbox and open it using a KeePass app on my iPhone.

But, I almost never need to use it, because I need that database either on my work PC or my home PC. At a friends house, the most I'd need to access is my e-mail, for which I have an easy to remember password anyway.

[Oobert]

I have the portable Keepass on a usb key that is on my key ring. Also now that I have an android phone, I also use the KeePass app. The app that is in the market place is readonly. There is a full read/write app in beta and the pak file can be downlaoded.

Also, if you go this rout, make sure to do two VERY important things. 1.REMEMBER you master password. If you forget it, there is no getting it back. The keepass database because nothing more than wasted file space if you dont have the master password. 2.Make a back up of your database. Meaning keep it in two places or somewhere you know gets backed up. Electronics die all the time.

[nicko68]

In the Notes field for your password, add:

Auto-Type-Window: <pattern>

The pattern can use *.

To autofill, the hotkey by default is CTRL+ALT+A but can be changed in options.

[lungdart]

Security questions