Deadbolt is a password generator, which uses a simple algorithm to construct strong passwords from a PIN (optional) and a memorable phrase.
It differs from similar 'password vaults' because it never stores the password anywhere, but creates it every time you use the service. The password it generates from any PIN and pass phrase combination will always be the same, but is completely irreversible, making sure you get a strong password every time.
The idea for Deadbolt came from the need to have so many different passwords for different sites. It's easy to get lazy and use the same password for everything, but then your security is at risk.
A recent survey conducted by the CPP showed that nearly half of Britons use the same log-in for online shopping, banking and social networking. (source: The Telegraph, IT Pro News).
Advice website Get Safe Online advise that choosing a secure password means choosing one that Contains a mix of upper and lower case letters, numbers and keyboard symbols, and that you must use different passwords for different services. In particular have a unique password for banking sites. If you use the same password for every site, a hacker only has to break it once to have access to everything.
Whilst this is great advice and sounds simple in practice, how do you manage to come up with, and remember all those strong passwords? You could use a password vault like the ones offered in many commercial virus scanners, but then your passwords may not be with you at work, and if the vault is compromised then all of your passwords will be too.
Deadbolt takes your PIN (e.g. '1234') and memorable pass phrase (e.g. 'online banking'), and runs through a process to generate a secure, strong password. This process is carried out on your computer, and no information is sent to or stored on the server meaning your personal information never gets transmitted.
The technical minded of you will be able to access this code and see exactly how it works, but this does not compromise security or make it available to hackers. The generated passwords are irreversible, and are completely meaningless without the PIN and memorable pass phrase - so as long as you keep those secret you can have any number of strong passwords.
Now you can create secure passwords on your smart phone. Scan the code below to get started.
Keep up to date with the latest security news with Deadbolt Password Generator on Twitter, and find out about the latest developments to the site with the blog.
Share
Deadbolt is free, so please help support development by sharing it on your favourite social network.