password

Virtual password vault

Tired of trying to remember passwords, account numbers, and other important confidential information? Passwords Plus can help. It will store all of your secret information in one database. You can choose from several categories built into the program, such as bank accounts and health insurance, or add more of your own. It has some interesting features, such as the ability to import information from PDAs and other handheld devices.

Passwords Plus has a compact interface that opens as a small window so it's easy to use in tandem with other programs. The built-in categories cover most password and PIN … Read more

Secure your jailbroken iPhone against worm

If your iPhone was recently "Rickrolled" by a worm that targets jailbroken iPhones, the following six steps will show you how to change the root password--used to connect to your device via a Unix software secure shell--to protect yourself in the future.

Before starting, you will need to have MobileTerminal installed from the Cydia store. Then:

1. Tap the MobileTerminal icon to open a terminal window.

2. Enter su and press return.

3. Enter the current default root user password alpine and press return.

4. Type passwd and press return.

5. Enter a new password and press return.… Read more

BOL 1081: Rafe's last day on Comcast

Rafe wonders what could possibly go wrong with Comcast monitoring its users to protect them from malware. In the process, Rafe makes a few comments that have us wondering whether he'll return home to any Internet service at all. Barnes and Noble is rumored to be rolling out an Android e-book reader, while Steve Ballmer claims that the PC is the best e-book reader.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1081

B&N e-book reader reportedly in the works http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10371468-93.html

PCs are … Read more

Phished or not, leaked passwords show lazy habits

It's still unclear exactly how 20,000 passwords discovered on the Web recently were stolen, but the finding reveals much in the way of people's password habits: some of us are lazy.

Several lists of passwords from Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and other accounts were discovered and reported on earlier in the week. While, Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo are blaming phishing, a researcher at ScanSafe thinks password-stealing malware on computers could be the culprit, which would mean that more than just the Web e-mail accounts may have been compromised.

More on that later. First, let's look at … Read more

More Mail mess: Passwords not saving

There seems to be a somewhat constant battle between Mail and Keychain over the issue of saving passwords. In the Snow Leopard edition of this struggle, many users find that they are constantly faced with having to enter their password and many of the old tricks to solve this issue aren't working like they used to.… Read more

Fix for iTunes 9.0.1 refusing to save your store password

iPhone Atlas reader golf11, participants in Apple's discussion boards, and I are all complaining that iTunes 9.0.1 refuses to remember our Apple ID passwords.

The Apple ID password is part of the user ID/password combination that you use to access and authorize activities and purchases in the iTunes Store. After iTunes 9.0.1 was released, a number of users were annoyed that the check mark button for saving their password no longer worked. As a result, each purchase or app-upgrade triggers iTunes to prompt for a password.

Fortunately, there are two fixes and a few … Read more

Hotmail passwords leaked online

Update October 6 at 11:25 a.m.: This was later discovered to be an industrywide problem that has affected users of Gmail and possibly other e-mail services as well. See more details here.

Thousands of Windows Live Hotmail passwords have been leaked online, Microsoft has confirmed. The news was first reported by Neowin.

According to Microsoft, it "learned that several thousand Windows Live Hotmail customers' credentials were exposed on a third-party site" at some point over the weekend. Neowin originally reported that the credentials were posted to a developer forum on Pastebin.com on October 1.

After … Read more

RoboForm Online secures personal data in 'cloud'

Someone told me recently that they had 22 different log-in IDs. My first thought was, you must get out more. My second thought was, how do you remember 22 different Web services, let alone log-in IDs and passwords?

The answer, of course, is a password manager. These days, I see PC security as a form of insurance. The more you have to risk, the more you should spend to protect it. Anyone who banks or otherwise transacts online will find the investment in a password and personal-data manager worthwhile. Fortunately, if your password-management needs are meager, the protection doesn't have to cost you anything.

Siber Systems recently announced the beta version of RoboForm Online that lets RoboForm users store their log-in data securely online. Just log into the service from any browser and get fast access to the IDs you've saved on your PC. With just one you're logged into your favorite Web sites.

The first time you use the program, you're prompted to enter a master password. You can change the master password via the program's Options drop-down menu and selecting Security settings, but if you forget a master password, you have to delete all the password-protected files and start over.

Keychain errors when starting from Mac OS X 10.6 Install disk

"The system was unable to unlock your keychain" may be an error message users could encounter when starting their Mac from the Mac OS X 10.6 Install disk after changing their keychain or user password. Options to proceed are to "Continue log in", "Create New Keychain", or to "Update Keychain Password". We take a closer look at these options so you know what to do if you encounter this issue.… Read more

Easy encryption tool

PrivyPad provides a method to encrypt messages. However, the program's complicated method of reading messages practically ruins an otherwise successful tool.

The program's interface looked instantly familiar, since it mimicks Notepad. While familiar, we still needed to find definitions for our encryption options in the Help file. We created a message just like a normal Notepad document, but were also able to quickly encrypt by simply adding a password with the toolbar icon. At this point we were confused because our message looked the same. It wasn't until we saved the program to our hard drive as … Read more