Comments on: Anyone know of a small device with an LCD for securely storing passwords?

Question: Anyone know of a small device with an LCD for securely storing passwords?

paulyballs — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:14:49 -0800

Anyone know of a small device with an LCD for securely storing passwords?

An executive at my company is looking for a standalone device (not Blackberry password keeper) that he can carry around that will securely store all his passwords. He is looking for a portable password "keeper" with LCD. He is looking to store all his personal passwords, pin #'s, cc info and so on and to be able to view them without a computer present, hence the LCD requirement. Also it needs to be encrypted so if he loses it, no one can access the data. I haven't been able to find anything. Anyone ever heard of such a thing?

By: HuronBob

HuronBob — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:24:29 -0800

how about a palm zire. It has a memo function that could be used, and data can be "hidden" via password, about $150.

By: orthogonality

orthogonality — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:26:41 -0800

A PalmPilot or Zaurus with suitable encryption.

By: katrielalex

katrielalex — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:29:59 -0800

Yes, google "secure encryption palm" and buy a cheapo old PDA from ebay. Make sure you get good encryption, look for something like AES or Blowfish.

By: samj

samj — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:21:18 -0800

The mandylion password manager might do what he wants, but it has quite limited storage space and I imagine typing things in is a pain. It's the only device I have ever seen that is close to what you describe.

I know you said he didn't want a blackberry password manager, but for anyone looking for a password safe type program KeePass is excellent and free [windows, linux, pocketpc, j2me, blackberry, and palm (sort of)].

By: scruss

scruss — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:28:05 -0800

Keyring for Palm OS is the reason I still have a Palm M505.

By: mkultra

mkultra — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:31:41 -0800

(you didn't specify cheap)

1Password is a fantastic secure data manager for the iPhone/iPod Touch, and it integrates with the (Mac) desktop client.

Apple is allegedly releasing new iPods on Sept. 9, including a price drop, so it's something to consider.

By: shothotbot

shothotbot — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:53:44 -0800

How about the back of a business card put in the executive's wallet? Unless he regularly loses his wallet its very safe. Its security guru Bruce Schneier's preferred solution.

By: Zed_Lopez

Zed_Lopez — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 08:42:51 -0800

Yup, a Palm m5** with Keyring would be pretty much perfect.

By: ijoyner

ijoyner — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 09:08:03 -0800

Blackberry (phone & e-mail included for monthly price)

By: ijoyner

ijoyner — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 09:08:57 -0800

Oops, just noticed this needed to be standalone

By: harkin banks

harkin banks — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 09:11:49 -0800

Shoot -- I opened this thread to suggest my setup, a Palm m515 with Keyring, but I see scruss and Zed_Lopez beat me to it. If only someone would write a desktop conduit to Keyring databases that a) supports the Keyring 2.0 format, b) allows editing (not just viewing), and c) runs on Windows, my world would be complete.

By: neuron

neuron — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:30:10 -0800

How important are these passwords (how unstealable do they need to be)? There's really no such thing as "secure password storage" other than in one's mind. I have many, many passwords and none of them are written or recorded anywhere. Instead, I use an algorithm to generate rememberable passwords. I don't use important dates or the names of family or pets. You gotta make up your own algorithm.

By: bartleby

bartleby — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:10:22 -0800

KeePass on a flash drive or SD card works great, but I don't have a computerless device for you, so I'll second the algorithm.
Something contextual. Let's say the algorithm is to add "schwa" to whatever site/device/context the password is for; his online banking pw = bankschwa, mail account pw = mailschwa, airline site pw = planeschwa, etc.
The good news is that algorithm passwords are easy to remember; the bad news is that cracking the algorithm effectively cracks all your passwords. Best you can do is combine two or more unrelated algorithms (sum the numeric value of the letters in the context first, then add schwa) and cross your fingers.

By: malaprohibita

malaprohibita — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 04:59:50 -0800

A Nokia N800/N810 with KeepassX would do the trick, though it would be overkill.