Dashlane 2.0

When it burst onto the scene last year, the Dashlane password manager created quite a stir. Slick, full-featured, and free, it included a system of points and badges designed to encourage proper password security. Earn enough points and you could unlock premium features. Dashlane 2.0 ($19.99 per year, direct) ditches the points and badges, rearranges the balance between free and premium editions, and adds a number of impressive new features.

Previously, all Dashlane users could sync passwords between multiple PCs, but only premium users could install it on mobile devices and store secure notes. Under Dashlane 2.0, online backup and syncing between devices are only available to premium users. If you just need to run it on one device, be it a Mac, a PC, an Android device, or an iOS device, you don't need to pay.

If you're an existing Dashlane user, don't worry about losing features by upgrading to 2.0. When you launch the new version, you'll get an opportunity to unlock free secure backup and sync for life. When you do, the program suggests you might like to make a one-time donation, but it's not required.

Getting Started
When you first install Dashlane, you'll be prompted to create a strong master password. Remember, anybody who breaks this one gains access to all of your passwords, so do make it strong. Note, too, that the master password isn't stored anywhere. If you forget it, Dashlane can't help. That also means they can't turn over your passwords even if ordered to do so by the court.

Like LastPass 2.0 and RoboForm Desktop 7, Dashlane can import passwords you may have already saved in Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Chrome, and then clear the passwords from the browser and turn off its password capture. Dashlane can also import passwords exported by RoboForm, LastPass, and a few others. LastPass itself will import from over two dozen other applications, while KeePass imports from nearly three dozen.

As noted, the previous edition of Dashlane used a system of points and badges to encourage proper security practices. That's gone in the current edition, but the Getting Started page walks you through a series of steps that ensure you understand how to use the program. A button on the application's title bar reflects how many steps you have left. As you complete a step, Dashlane moves it to the bottom and crosses it out. When all are complete, the button vanishes.

Google Authenticator and Security
Like most password managers, Dashlane can automatically log you out after a fixed time of inactivity. By default, this feature is turned off. I'd recommend turning on, and setting the idle time to something quite a bit less than the default of 30 minutes. KeePass can be set to log out automatically on a wide variety of triggers, among them locking the computer, putting it in sleep mode, or minimizing the program's main window.

New in this edition, Dashlane offers two-factor authentication using Google Authenticator. Once you've installed Google Authenticator on your phone, logging in will require both your password and a code sent to your phone. You can choose to log in this way every time, or only on the first time you log in using a new device.

LastPass 2.0 Premium is definitely the leader when it comes to two-factor authentication. In addition to Google Authenticator, it supports the Microsoft Authenticator App for Windows phones. It can also authenticate using your fingerprint, a Yubikey token, a smartcard, a specially-prepared USB drive, or even a simple wallet-sized decoding grid.

If you have Dashlane's paid edition, you can log in to your password stash from any computer. Another form of two-factor authentication comes into play when you do this for the first time from a given device. In addition to entering your master password, you'll need to enter a code sent to your email account. You can choose whether or not to have Dashlane remember this computer for future logins.

Kaspersky Password Manager 4 also offers remote login, as does LastPass. The basic RoboForm Desktop does not, but you can get full online access by choosing RoboForm Everywhere 7 instead.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/v_fVXbQXtX8/0,2817,2420866,00.asp

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