Every online service including shopping, banking, and news requires an account and password to be established for access. Learn how to avoid having to remember all the different combinations of IDs and passwords. One of the newest features added to the latest handheld operating system [Hack #20] is Password Keeper. You can see its icon, a vault, in Figure 5-9. Figure 5-9. New Password Keeper application5.3.1. Set Up the Password Keeper PasswordPassword Keeper provides a secure means to store various information such as IDs, passwords, and PINs using AES encryption technology. You can also use it to generate random passwords or to copy a password to the clipboard, which you can later paste when accessing an application through the BlackBerry Browser. When you open Password Keeper for the first time, you are prompted for a password and must reenter it to confirm. The password screen displayed is shown in Figure 5-10. Once you have typed the password, click OK to continue. Password Keeper is ready to use!
Figure 5-10. Setting the password for Password Keeper5.3.2. Add an Entry to Password KeeperNow you are ready to add an entry to your password vault:
Figure 5-11. Sample Password Keeper entryWhen you want to access a password, just open Password Keeper and scroll down to the desired entry. You can click and select to edit or view the entry. If you are using the BlackBerry Browser to access a mobile online service or application, you can use Password Keeper to copy the vaulted password to the clipboard to later paste into the application. This is done by simply right-clicking the entry and selecting Copy to Clipboard. Once copied, open the online application and paste the password into the proper field. You can also use Password Keeper to generate random passwords as well as define the criteria for those passwords. Various options are available; open Password Keeper, click the trackwheel, and select Options. The Password Keeper Options are listed. If you use Desktop Manager to back up or restore your handheld data, your passwords will also be safely backed up along with your other data. Since the data is encrypted, your passwords are safe! Shari Kornberg |