PassPack: Software that I am enjoying using.
3 05 2008Since getting my MacBook Air I’ve started using an web-based password manager called PassPack. From what I understand PassPack works by using JavaScript on the client-side to decrypt a package of data containing a master list of all your passwords. You can then reveal passwords which you can cut-and-paste into other browser forms (it also provides some kind of 1-click sign-on process). To update your passwords it basically encrypts the data again and sends it to the server.
There are basically three pieces of information that you need to keep in your head to use the service. Username, password and packing key. The username and password is used to control downloading and saving of the package of passwords, and the packing key is something only you know (not even PassPack sees it) which is used to encrypt the contents of the package.
So far it has worked quite nicely, and if you really want to have it work locally you can actually setup Google Gears on your machine and run a cut-down version of their engine which you can access any time (handy if you don’t have intarweb access, but I haven’t found the need - so far).
I have been a fan of using keepass which is open source application there is even a version that runs on windows mobile so you have them on the go as well.