The KeePassXC password manager. Application 15 of 24

In my opinion, the biggest problem with cybersecurity is that it is annoying and boring. That's why, the 15th application of this list is the KeePassXC password manager

Most of us have to enter dozens of passwords throughout the month and we can't remember them all. In the end we end up either using the same password for everything or storing all passwords in the browser. Both of these things constitute violations of good computer security practices. Even when we take precautions, we cannot prevent them from being stolen from the computers of third-party services. It happened to me with my Creative Cloud password, it seems the Adobe guys stored it as plain text.

History of passwords.

Specialists agree that the origin of passwords as a protection measure must be sought in the mid-sixties when MIT researchers were building a time-sharing computing system known as CTSS. A time-sharing system allocates users a time to use system resources.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology CTSS It bequeathed us technologies such as email, virtual machines, instant messaging, and file sharing.

Fernando Corbató, the man who led the CTSS project in the mid-1960s, explains the need to implement this mechanism

The key problem was that we set up multiple terminals that would be used by multiple people, but each person had their own private set of files. Putting a password for each individual user like a lock seemed like a very simple solution.

Legend has it that at the time as a security mechanism it was not as effective as it should have been. In 1966, a software error mixed up the system welcome message with the master password file. When you logged in, it showed you the list of passwords.

It was not the only case. Four years earlier, a researcher named Alan Scherr wanted to be able to use more of the team time he was allotted. He simply asked the administration to print the password file. As the punch card request was in order, they did so.

The KeePassXC password manager

A password manager is a software application created so that we do not have to think and remember passwords. It is capable of storing and managing login credentials for various online services.

KeePassXC is an open source password manager that in addition to passwords allows you to save other confidential information. Since it is cross-platform, we can share information between different teams.

Among the information that we can save in an encrypted file is:

• User names
• Passwords
• URL
• Attachments
• Notes

In addition, it has a customizable password generator with the possibility of defining the combination of characters or using password phrases that are easier to memorize.

If we have many passwords stored, we can identify them with icons or classify them into groups. On the other hand, the program has a powerful search engine to find what we need.

Despite the convenience of storing passwords in the browser, it is usually not the most secure way. Luckily KeepassXC integrates with Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Chromium, Vivaldi, Brave, and Tor-Browser browsers.

When sharing information with other managers, the program is compatible with the KDBX4 and KDBX3 password database formats. Databases can also be exported in CSV and HTML formats.

KeePassXC, unlike many proprietary solutions, It does not store data on external servers. Data is encrypted locally and saved in the chosen location.

Although the use of the password manager is quite intuitive, in your page We have a quick guide, complete documentation and a frequently asked questions page.

In Ubuntu and derivatives we can install it from the Snap store with the command:

sudo snap install keepassxc