Expert: James Filmer - 7/14/2009

Question
QUESTION: I am concerned about cyber-crooks hacking into our computer and grabbing our list of passwords and usernames to access our bank accounts. Such a list is on our hard drive. Would their plans be foiled if we altered our list of passwords so that they were useless? For example suppose our password is "book" and we edited it on our list of passwords so that it appears to be "cook." The correct password is still "book" but when the thief tries to use "cook" he gets nowhere. Would the thief be able to run through the possibilities until he reached "book?" Or would the cyber-thief even want to spend his time attempting this? By the way, we use a Macintosh at home. Thank you.

ANSWER: Hi david,

I'd use KeypassX (or something like it):
http://www.goodwebpractices.com/applications/use-keypassx-to-keep-your-joomla-em

And, I'd never use a simple password. Yes, an experienced thief would be able to run through the possibilities to reach "book" easily.

See the Password Checker - Tip 22: http://enrgy21.com/computertips2.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Password_strength

and,
http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST04-002.html




---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION:  I use Mac system 9.2 - anything available for that?

ANSWER: At least one of the following should work:

http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Security/Password-Safe-SWT.shtml

http://www.fpx.de/fp/Software/Gorilla/

http://passwordsafe.sourceforge.net/

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: 1 and 2 specifically state they are for Mac OSX. Sourceforge is not specific about requirements and cannot be contacted unless I am a member: it requires login.

Answer
And you didn't tell me what your exact operating system was until your second post. In your first you only mentioned Mac.

There is probably no one on earth who can tell you what software will keep passwords safe on your outdated system except the software makers themselves, or people who use (or have used) your system.

It's really a homework question (homework for you) and I gave you the correct directions to go in to find the answer. There may not even be available for your system what you're looking for, but you got a lot of free assistance and I'm surprised you expected more without doing anything on your part.
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That is the most ridiculous, unfair rating I've received thus far. Makes me want to never answer a question free again. You wasted my time after I gave you as much information as anyone could give that doesn't use your outdated, unsupported system. I do not appreciate your ratings and will ask that it be removed.


Though I'm familiar with it, neither I nor many others use the Mac system 9.2.

However,Sourceforge membership is free: someone on their team should have the details about whether or not it's compatible with your system.

"Mac OS 9 was a great operating system years ago, but there's so much you can do in Mac OS X that you can't do in Mac OS 9"; it was discontinued in 2002 and has quite a few limitations. Please see this site for more info: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1387

See also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_9
The Availability, References and External links will also lead you to more info:

Another thing that might help you is finding a forum that has members that know the details of your system:

http://www.techsupportforum.com/alternative-computing/mac-support/
http://www.machelpforum.com/
or
http://discussions.apple.com/index.jspa