SplashID Safe Review

Reviewed by: Howard Carson, September 2012
Published by: SplashData
Requires: Any compatible Windows or Mac OS X laptop or desktop computer, any compatible Android smartphone or tablet, Windows Mobile, Blackberry or Apple iOS smartphone or tablet
MSRP: US$9.95-29.99 (depending on operating system and device))

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Description

SplashID Safe is a software utility designed to securely store all your logins, passwords, frequently used credit card information, emergency numbers, passport numbers and every other important and private bit of information for which you need secure storage and access, or that you need to either carry with you on a portable smartphone or tablet device, or store on a laptop or desktop computer. The idea is that you only need to remember one password to get into SplashID Safe, which will then allow you to easily look up all your other passwords, logins, personal data and so on.

SplashID Safe is available for Apple iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch), Android (smartphones and tablets), Blackberry OS (where I first started using it), Windows and Mac OS X. Although the SplashID Safe user interfaces are slightly different for each device operating system, the internal database and lookup/search functions operate the same way.

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Features

WiFi synchronization of mobile devices with your desktop installation works well, although you'd be wise to ensure your wireless network password is properly secure and additionally 'masked' by a unique station ID (SSID) for your business or home network wireless router. Aside from that caveat, WiFi sync is fast and accurate.

  • Unlimited number of customizable record types and categories for storing all kinds of passwords and personal information
  • Definable list views, support for custom icons and field labels
  • Unbreakable AES and 256-bit Blowfish encryption provides proven protection for safe password management; secure field masking offers additional protection for sensitive data like passwords - that means you can set up the password field to show only asterisks in case you find yourself in situations where someone next to you (or a security camera) might be able to see something); automatic password generator feature creates un-guessable passwords and prevents the security risk of using the same passwords repeatedly
  • Synchronize data between the desktop software and a handheld client for multiple platforms - iPhone, iPad, Android, Blackberry, Palm OS, and Windows Mobile

SplashID Safe can of course be used to store any kind of private data - passport numbers, bank account numbers, credit card numbers/expiry dates/security codes, travel insurance account numbers and the associated emergency phone numbers, and all sorts of other things.

Use

SplashID Safe has a subtle but persistently positive effect on personal security. The longer you use SplashID Safe, the less often you'll feel any need to simplify new login names and passwords for personal data sites (banks, trusts, financial management sites, etc.), software (online and desktop/laptop/mobile installations), news, entertainment and shopping web sites. Where you were previously using the same user name and relatively simple password over and over again, it will dawn on you that without the need to remember a complex password you can dramatically improve your personal information and access security. That's the real beauty of SplashID Safe.

Here's an example. "Gbv1-29dcF" is a perfectly good password. It's a combination of numbers, upper and lower case letters, and a 'dash' symbol. This password is vastly better: "keepyourhandsoffmypersonalinfoyounastyvillain"

Why is the plain language password better? Because it's far longer, because it takes for more computing power to crack, far more time to crack because of the length, and most attempted automated botnet cracks will simply time out after a while and look for targets that yield results faster. But who wants to start memorizing a series of different and very long password phrases? See what I'm getting at? No matter how you analyze the data security situation, using a single long-ish password to secure SplashID is all you need to keep a secure hold on literally dozens, hundred or thousands of other highly complex passwords without having to personally remember even a single one of them.

We used SplashID Safe, for the purposes of this review, in several different business, home and travel situations. None of the people we drafted to try out SplashID were using any sort of serious password security of any kind. The complain was largely the same from all of the testers: too many passwords to remember, too many different personal logins (from business intranets to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and you-name-it, to business and personal banking logins, etc.), and the really dangerous habit of using the login name or user name and password for almost everything. Examples of those passwords include the person's own name, password, the name of one of their children, and so on in that simple vein. Very bad.


Value

What do you want for US$9.95? Considering the amount of minor aggravation and stress that SplashID Safe can alleviate, and considering that with SplashID Safe you can make an important and substantial improvement in your personal information security in every part of your life, this utility is dirt cheap. All of these sorts of utilities are competing heavily against each other so prices are low. SplashData has been around since 2000 though, and in the software utility business, that's a very good track record. Support is good. You really do get your money's worth.

Cons: SplashID Safe works as a browser plug-in too, for automated login and password storage, but only in Internet Explorer. We could use it in Firefox, Safari and Chrome as well. We could wish for an update system similar to Siber System's Roboform Everywhere in which all installations of the password vault could be automatically updated (more of a wish list item than a "Con" strictly speaking). At the very least, a master installation (on your main home or business computer for example) could propagate changes, additions and synchronized data to all your other installations. SplashID does not have an easy way of deleting all duplicate records at once, and since the SplashID can sometimes create duplicate records during device sync, it's a pain in the neck to manually delete them all. This is a very minor irritation, but it's been around through a number of versions of SplashID (read: for years), so it's also about time that SplashData fixed the problem.

Pros: The WiFi sync feature works well. If you're online, using a mobile device, or make use of any kind of portable or desktop computer, you likely have dozens or more logins and passwords. It's frequently impossible to remember all of them, especially if you're using truly complex and secure passwords. You need a secure data vault and SplashID Safe is a great choice. I've been using SplashID (the name was updated to SplashID Safe only a couple of years ago) with nary a problem ever since SplashData released a version for the Blackberry back in 2001. I'm now using on Windows 7, Windows XP, iPhone, iPad, and an Android tablet. I'm a biased reviewer, no doubt, but the proof is in the results - always. SplashID Safe remains a daily utility for me, remains ideal for securely transporting all the secure data I need during frequent travel, and I use it to store everything from passport, flight and emergency phone numbers, to logins, account numbers and everything else to which I want really fast access and which must absolutely be kept secure hidden from prying eyes. Highly recommended.

KSN Product Rating:


 

 








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