Like a safe for your secure data. (1Password)

Member Name: f1ndl0w

Product:	1Password
Date:	03/06/09 (33 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to use, integrates with virtually all browsers.

Disadvantages: Relatively expensive for what it is.

1Password is a password management utility for Mac OS X, initially it looks like nothing more than a fancy plug-in for your browser which does nothing more than what the browser itself is capable of. In a way this is true, although it is once you start using the application that you realise it has many more uses.

One of them that is most useful for me is the ability to have the same password manager remember my password's for virtually any web browser that I chose to use, it seamlessly integrates allowing for all my account details which I have used in Safari to be used in Firefox, Flock, and many more. There are plug-ins available for most Mac browsers, so compatibility isn't really an issue unless you use some kind of obscure browser.

Given that the basic functionality of 1Password can be easily performed with built in tools (such as OS X's Keychain) it is understandable that many people will see this as an unnecessary purchase. That was my initial opinion anyway, so I took some convincing but after the 30-day trial had ended I realised that I had come to rely on 1Password, so ended up purchasing.

One of the built in tools is the "Strong Password Generator", this can be accessed at any time from the 1Password browser plug-in, allowing for you to instantly create a strong password when you create a new account anywhere. This generates password's which I'm sure no human could possibly guess, and it would take a computer a very long time too, an example of a generated password is "D2xR1mG!L/3qj)&5di4`8'+<gnf6rbSBa7MAl *ONCTuPX90;FK". I have found this not only useful for creating a secure password, but also helpful in encouraging for you to use a secure password, an example of this is that I use it to create password's for accounts (such as PayPal) which I know I will not need to access away from my laptop, and whereby security is a vital issue.

1Password essentially replaces browsers' built in password managers; by having it's own automatic form filler. This has more options than the usual password managers, these include the ability to set whether account details are automatically entered, and whether or not you want for 1Password to automatically enter your details and submit the form. This is very useful if someone else is using your computer, and you don't want to give them immediate access to your online identity. In addition to this 1Password also password protects your logins with a "Master Password", this must be entered prior to 1Password restoring your account details, after once it is saved for a period of time (to avoid the annoyance of it being requested all of the time), it is possible to remove this, although that somewhat defeats the object of the additional security provided by 1Password.

In addition to just password's 1Password also allows for you to save secure details of other accounts/services. An example of this is Debit/Credit card information, this can all be stored securely and automatically filled in upon request. Further to this Software Licenses can also be saved within 1Password, this is something which I use all of the time, since I backup my purchased software to remove the need for disk's it is incredibly useful to be able to fire up a single piece of software to retrieve all the licensing information, something needed very often with Microsoft software!

"Secure Notes" is a pretty simple feature (also available in OS X Keychain) which allows for you to save notes securely ... sounds a lot like Ronseal, I haven't used this as I don't really have any notes more secure than a to-do list, which I don't think the government are that interested in!

Overall I'd recommend 1Password for anyone who wants to keep their online identities all in one place. It allows for this to be done, quite literally, with 1 password. This may not be the most secure approach (since anyone who gained access to your computer would only need to know a single password to access all of your accounts), but it is possibly the easiest, and I am willing to sacrifice on a little bit of security for a lot of convenience.

Summary: Excellent way to keep your browsers passwords in sync.

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