On the Mark: 5/29/2002

	Wednesday, May 29, 2002

ErnieTheAttorney sends a comment that answers my desire for an Identity Manager! This may not have everything that you are looking for, but I use it and like it. It's free and it's name is....? Roboforms I hope it helps. I can't imagine living without it.

Thank you Ernie! RoboForm looks pretty cool. In fact, I see that Discover is using it for their Deskshop product. This will definitely be getting a trial on my machine in the near future. These weblogs are great! Why do I blog? It enables others to help me solve problems.
5:50:40 PM Google It!

Buzz Bruggeman is going to be so proud of me. I think I could probably use ActiveWords as a cheap Identity Manager. It does not meet all of my requirements (listed below), but it does meet some of the key requirements. Resource access detection will be up to me, but I could set up an active word for each unique identity's password. I could do it for userid's also, but that is generally unneccessary since most sites/applications tend to remember your userid for you.
3:47:48 PM

Google It!

Maybe some inventive person would like to create an Identity Manager for me! Just in case, I will jot down some thoughts on what I want. My initial vision is for something simple, kind of like the Discover Deskshop. It is just a glorified forms-filler, but it knows just what to fill in and where.

The Identity Manager (Tim) should keep track of userids and passwords I use for accessing specific sites, applications, or other secured resources.
It should allow me to look up identities I use.
It should, itself, be secured - preferrably using native OS security mechanisms.
It should provide some export functionality so I can easily migrate to another machine (XML a plus here).
Stored and exported identity passwords should be encrypted.
It should detect an access to a secured resource and automatically provide the appropriate userid and password.
All data should be stored locally, on my machine.
It cannot connect to any external resource for any reason (I want to avoid any chance that the mechanism could be compromised without my knowledge).

OK, I have got my Discover Card out (or Deskshop ready). Where can I buy this marvel?
3:18:18 PM

Google It!

After three years of not requiring periodic password changes our company is reverting to a policy requiring passwords be changed every 60 days. The requirement for acceptable password syntax has also gotten much tougher. I am not going to be able to come up with six passwords per year that are both memorable and match the syntax requirements.

I try to manage my identities by limiting the number of userids I create (using the same ID as often as possible) and always using one of two passwords (one for personal use, one for work use). This new policy is going to complicate my scheme. I either have to change all my passwords when I change my work password, or I have to find a way to track them all. I do not have the time to run off to every website (or application) where I have established a work-related identity and change my password just to keep them all in synch. In lieu of better authentication technology, I think I need a password manager.

For now I am writing my passwords on a piece of paper. I will keep my userids secretly tucked inside my head and steadfastly refuse to tell you the location of the piece of paper that has my passwords on it.
10:32:35 AM Google It!