With the personal network I have created for myself, I see more and more need for increased control and security in how I do things, and how I store things. In the course of a day, I often log into a large number of sites for online commerce, my finances, for my email, IM, calendar, to-do list information, and even this blog requires a lot of specific information just to log onto it. In this regard I have been using a number of specific apps to take care of these issues for several years.
First off, if you have the ultimate or business versions of Windows Vista or Windows 7 you will have access to Bitlocker (the Microsoft encryption tool), for the rest of us there is TrueCrypt (a freeware tool). So, since I have TrueCrypt I will review only it…since Bitlocker is not a likely option for me in the near term…
TrueCrypt is a program which allows you to make encrypted volumes and directories on your computer. This is a pretty handy place to put records and information which you might not want others to have easy access to, i.e. financial records, medical records, tax information, and even those secret plans to subvert some foreign government…). While the app itself is a bit of effort to get on top of, TrueCrypt has plenty of documentation on their site, and even YouTube has plenty of videos covering how to encrypt a drive, a directory, or even your whole system.
TrueCrypt review
http://review.techworld.com/security/3212403/truecrypt-review
TrueCrypt is a great tool with which to create a virtual ‘safe’ on your PC, but there are often needs for more mobility and easier access to often used pieces of information which you still want to keep secure.
In this case, another free app KeePass is a good tool. This app is a stand alone, encrypted container for what is basically a data base of some of the important information you might want to keep secure (i.e. bank account info, credit card numbers, passwords for various programs, etc.). The trick with KeePass is that all of these passwords can be accessed through only having to remember one password (i.e. the password to open up KeePass…). Over the years I have done things like use the same encrypted database for both my Windows KeePass install as with a similar app on a flashdrive (i.e. I would sync the flashdrive using a directory where my windows KeePass database was…i.e. the same database always updated).
The Best Open Source Password Manager: KeePass Password Safe
http://www.vikitech.com/162/the-best-open-source-password-manager-keepass-password-safe
Finally, I use LastPass as a means to have simple access to online log ins and web passwords. I have a LastPass plug-in on my Firefox installation which takes care of all of my passwords related actions (automatically). I have LastPass apps on both my iPhone and iPad (of varying value, but they work…) so that I always have some sort of access to all of my online passwords. As with KeePass, I only need to remember one password with LastPass. This app also has the tools to generate and globally change passwords on a regular basis (it only takes a few seconds…); so that I have even higher security in that my passwords change at random intervals.
LastPass
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2343562,00.asp
