A closer look at Kaspersky Password Manager

Kaspersky Password Manager is designed to safeguard and automatically submit the passwords we use every day to access Web sites and online applications. It protects personal information and data from being lost, stolen or compromised by sophisticated malware, cyber criminals, or plain old forgetfulness.

The installation process in version 4.0.0.133 is straightforward and quick. To configure Password Manager, you are provided with a Wizard. First thing you do is enter the master password – this is the only password you must remember:

You can choose to enter the password with a virtual keyboard, in order to prevent keyloggers from stealing it.

Then you have to choose your authentication method (you can change it later):

The next step is deciding after what event or after how long will the program lock itself automatically. It could be on screensaver activation, after a certain period of computer inactivity, or never.

And, finally, you are shown which additional extensions or plug-ins you must install so that the program can support the application. Point and click, and it will do everything by itself.

Upon starting Password Manager for the first time after configuration, you will be asked to disable IE’s password manager “AutoComplete” option for username and passwords, to avoid conflict between the two programs – that is, if you’re using IE.

Unlock the program by inserting your master password, and it’s ready to be used. It can be accessed through its shortcut or through the icon in the system tray:

You are greeted by a screen with a few to-the-point buttons/options:

Let’s clear something right away, so that there is no confusion. By “Account” the program means a specific service. “Login” is one set of credentials. “Group” means accounts grouped together, and “Identity” is the sum of all the other personal data you could use when applying for a service, buying something, etc.

Let’s take this example to make things even more simple. I have a Flickr account. My brother has one also and sometimes he accesses it from my computer. I will add Flickr as an account complete with my login information, and add a “Login” for my brother – but under the same account. If I use more photo services, I will group them all together. I will do the same for email accounts and the like. I will create different identities that will come in hand when applying to new services and websites, so that certain information is entered automatically into the required fields.

Let’s see how it’s done, and start with Identity. Press the “Add Identity” button, and a window where you can enter the information appears. Choose a name for the identity and double-click on the empty “Value” place for each “Role” to edit it:

You can enter personal information like name, birth date, phone number, etc.; Web data such as Web site, email, Yahoo ID, Skype name, ICQ UIN, and the like; Authorization methods;, address information; regional information like preferred language or currency; business data such as company name, job title, work phone, etc.; credit card information – card number, issuing bank, PIN number, etc.; bank account information – account number, bank name, routing number, account owner, and the like.

Adding an account:

Every time you input login information, you can use the password generator by clicking on the “Generate password-¦” link.

When adding an account, be sure to enter the link for the login page under the “Link” tab, then edit the entry under “Manual form edit” tab:

Let’s see how it all works now that we entered something to work with. Open your browser and go to the login page of a service (Flickr in this case). When it loads, either click on the little icon in the system tray and chose the account you need, or click on the little “key” button that pops up in the browser – in the upper right corner where the “minimize”, “maximize” and “close” buttons are. If you did everything right, Password Manager will input the correct values:

When filling a form, the process is the same – only select an “Identity” instead of an “Account”:

In the “Backup” tab of the main Password Manager window you can choose to do three things: restore a password (form an earlier “incarnation”), import passwords from other unprotected applications, and export the passwords as (unencrypted) text:

In the Settings menu, there is a myriad of options – you can make a whitelist and a blacklist, set shortcut keys, change the authorization method, install the add-ons for various browsers, etc.:

To create a portable version of the Manager, insert a USB and start the Portable Version Creation Wizard:

To conclude – Kaspersky Password Manager can be a handy tool for someone who understands the way the Internet and a computer works, but it’s not a good tool for novices – too many things happening, to many options given.

To download a fully functional trial version of the program, go here (some information is required).