The essentials of password security are
- Passwords must be complex
- Passwords must not be reused
Password Safe
Since it is impossible to remember many complex passwords, you will need a password safe.
Keepass is a widely used secure password safe, which is free to use.
Download
To download the latest version of Keepass go to http://keepass.info/download.html and download the latest version.
At the time of writing, the latest version in Keepass 2.24.
Download the .exe file.
Install
Once you have downloded the .exe file, run it to install the software.
Folow the usual installation instructions, one installed the Keepass program will start.
Setup
Once running, you will need to create a new file to store passwords in, to do this click ‘file’ … ‘new’ and select a suitable filename and folder to store it in.
Then you will be asked to set up a Master Password. You must select a complex but memorable password. If you forget this password there is no way to retrieve any data you store in Keepass.
Run
Once setup, you can enter your passwords in Keepass, add entries by clicking on the gold key icon and fill in the fields you need.
Remember to save changes using the disk icon.
Use
To access your passwords, run Keepass, and it will automatically open the last password safe file you used, you will then need to enter your master password.
Look for the password you need, and copy it from Keepass using copy, and paste it where you need it.
Backup
In order to not lose your passwords in the event of your PC breaking, you will need to back up the file the passwords are stored in. This file is the one you chose during setup, and ends “.kbdx”.
The easiest way to backup this file is to email it to yourself, on an email system such as gmail, leaving a copy of the file on the gmail server.