15-Minute Reviews :: Effective Password Manager v1.0

Hello all and welcome to another 15-Minute Review! Today’s application is Effective Password Manager version 1.0 by Intelore – A password-management application for

Software Description

As Giveaway of the Day states:

“Effective Password Manager is the perfect tool for storing all your most sensitive and valuable information like passwords, logins, pin codes and access codes as well as credit card and account numbers, lock combinations etc. It creates a reliable and well protected database which you can conveniently search and get the right information in no time. You can also store backup copies on various types of media and easily restore the database in case of a hard drive failure.

No more lost or forgotten passwords! Fast and reliable access to the necessary information! A truly effective way to manage your confidential information.”

Quick Pros

• Main application itself easy to use
• Passwords can be organized into a tree layout
• Search functionality for finding items quickly
• Can be used for passwords other than for websites

Quick Cons

• No browser integration – Awkward to insert
• Global hotkeys did not perform as hoped
• Does not appear to purge clipboard after password is pasted
• While database can be password-protected, it is not forced

Expansion

Upon your first launch ot this application, you’re greeted by a two-pane window with a button bar. Upon the button bar are buttons to manage the database file (New, Open & Save), buttons to manage the database entries and folders, a search box as well as a Lock button for locking down the application. Below this you will find a tree-based layout in the left pane for organizing your entries in the password manager, which can be helpful for organizing and making items easier to browse. On the right of the screen displays a table in which the current folder’s database items will be shown. What is nice about the table on the left is you can choose what information is displayed in it by selecting which you would like in the View -> List Fields submenu. Adding a new entry, while not as simple as other applications due to a lack of browser integration, is still fairly easy, though could be time-consuming if you have to manually enter a lot of information (Moving your database over).

The application also has a search functionality. By default (via the search box) you can search all fields, which could make this pretty handy if you organize well. As well, if you want to choose what fields to search by, you can click the little magnifying glass icon to the left of the search box for more options.

The best part of this application is that it can effectively be used for storing other passwords besides for websites; Something many other applications aren’t really geared towards. Store your passphrases for your credit card billing contacts; A number for a locker or more. The search functionality makes this very easy and would be a great place to store it as opposed to writing it down, so long as you remember to lock the database.

As mentioned earlier however, there is no browser integration. The process of going to a website and logging in can end up being a matter of 5 key combinations or many more clicks for going to the site and entering a username and password. I was hoping that the application’s global hotkeys would be more powerful, possibly bringing the process down to 3 hotkeys (Open site, paste, paste), but alas, the global “Paste: Current account ‘Password’ field” and “Paste: Current account ‘Login’ field” only words in standard windows and not in web browsers, as the helpfiles state, so you end up having to use a global “Copy: Current account ‘Password’ field” and “Copy: Current account ‘Login’ field” hotkey, and then using those in conjunction with pasting in the password after each. This really drags down the usability of this application as a whole and should really be looked at to improve.

A concern of mine is that once the login/password is pasted, the clipboard is not automatically scrubbed; It is only scrubbed if you turn it on during application minimizing or exiting. This leaves you open to losing your password via sniffers, or even accidental into an IM box, email or otherwise where you might inadvertently paste and send, or if you step away from your computer and someone else checks your clipboard. Even with the auto-lock functionality, this still could end up being a few seconds/minutes, and compromise your information.

My last concern is that while you can password protect your database and lock the database manually when you step away (Or even on a timer), the fact that the application does not explicitly force you to lock your password database or even warn you to set a password or anything unless you actually try the lock feature is a pretty huge security risk in itself. While this may be seen as a bonus to home users, this is a pretty bold thing to let go – Someone breaks into your house, they have easy access to all your passwords you’ve entered, with no level of security or bringing the file back.

Final Verdict

While the main application’s interface is very usable, moreso than others I’ve tested, the actual process of using it with a website is pretty awkward in itself, and the minimal protections from password theft in-transit or after pasting is a bit of a concern. This is however a first-version of an application, and the application does show promise of being a potential alternative in the future. For free, I would likely not recommend this title at this time due to some of the points mentioned above if you are planning on using it for the web; However it may be an option for someone who is looking for storage of other kinds of passwords. As for paying $24.95 for this application, I would not purchase this application or recommend it yet until it matures a bit more. There are free and alternative pay-for applications which are more usable for day-to-day use on websites such as Sticky Password ($24.95) and KeePass (Open-Source).

Posted by BladedThoth on Friday, October 05, 2007