02
Sat, Nov
2 New Articles

Password Profiler 2 Creates Order from Chaos

Compliance / Privacy
Typography
  • Smaller Small Medium Big Bigger
  • Default Helvetica Segoe Georgia Times

A new release of a popular utility for managing and securing passwords provides a place to store all your personal information.

By Chris Smith

I have written in the past of the importance of having solid passwords to protect your data. I haven't offered, however, any convenient and inexpensive utilities to manage passwords at home, in the office, or on the road. One such utility that has recently been released following a complete rewrite is Password Profiler 2. This automated password filler enables you to log into Web sites and quickly complete lengthy registration and checkout forms, allows you to save logins to frequently visited sites, and provides for multiple profiles for separating business and personal information.

 

Password Profiler has been around for about five years, and many people have taken advantage of its convenient features. Unfortunately, the database files used in the original version and those in the new version are neither interchangeable nor compatible. So if you are a current user, your choices include 1) keep using what you have, 2) re-key the data into the latest version, or 3) wait until the development team comes through with a tool to migrate the old data files into the new (there is a possibility such a tool may be forthcoming, as users have complained in the product's forums about the inconvenience of migrating to PP2). Nevertheless, for those who are willing to re-key data or are newbies to the application, following are a few items to consider.

 

These are some of the features in Password Profiler 2:

•·        Password encryption

•·        An advanced artificial intelligence engine for accurate form-fill

•·        Password saving and filling that is not intrusive

•·        Support for Firefox as well as Internet Explorer 6 and 7

•·        Minimal consumption of resources

•·        Shared logins between Internet Explorer and Firefox

 

Password Profiler 2 is a utility offered directly by PCMag.com, which charges for it before permitting you to download it, but the cost is minimal at $7.97. For a little more than double that fee, however, you can have access to more than 140 exclusive utilities from the PCMag.com library.

 

When installing PP2, you get to specify whether you want to use both Firefox and Internet Explorer. A wizard will take you through installation, where you can specify various other options pertaining to automatically saving forms with passwords and retaining the option to automatically fill forms that have been previously saved. You can, however, return to change these preferences at a later time. You will have to re-boot in order to complete the installation of the add-ons for each browser you intend to use.

 

Once up and running, you can use PP2 to fill in Web site registrations, check-out forms, and banking forms. You can launch the program from within your browser by selecting the PP2 icon in the status bar. Options in the menu that now presents itself include locking the PP2 database, launching the program window, saving a form, and filling a form using either saved profile data or data saved from a previous site visit. You can also add additional data fields within each profile if you occasionally register at a site with an alternate address, say from work.

 

If you open the default profile folder, you will be asked for personal, address, contact, credit card, and banking information. Once you've entered all your data in PP2, you can fill in forms by selecting "fill form using profile" through the dialog that prompts you to select a profile. 

 

One of the most common ways business people lose data today is by losing or having someone steal their laptops. PP2 allows you to lock others out of your password data with a master password you create from a dialog in the Edit Master Password menu. An elegant feature of the application is that it does not store this master password anywhere on your system or even in the program's memory. Needless to say, lose the master password or forget it, and you will have a very tough time indeed in getting into PP2. Using a master password is the trigger for PP2 to encrypt your data, something most business users will want. It's worth noting, however, that for reasons of flexibility, URLs that are stored in PP2 are not encrypted. This does not affect stored passwords, however, which still are encrypted when you use a master password.

 

The database where PP2 stores your information is a standard SQL database, making it fairly easy to merge or replace tables between databases with SQL commands should you need to sync your files with another user. However, PP2 doesn't support multiple file rules at the present time. You can, however, set up multiple files and designate one as the default. In the File menu, there are options to restore, back up, and compact the database, as well as an option showing information about the database, including how many records it contains and the last time you backed up.

 

For people, such as me, who like to print out their passwords, and then save them in a dark corner somewhere, like the backyard well, PP2 allows you to print out all your profiles and saved site-forms. You can also print them to a file.

 

While Password Profiler 2 has its limitations, it offers a convenient, low-cost, and secure improvement over the haphazard systems many of us have devised over the years. The small entry fee is a minor investment to acquire a fairly robust means of protecting and managing your individual passwords.

Chris Smith

Chris Smith was the Senior News Editor at MC Press Online from 2007 to 2012 and was responsible for the news content on the company's Web site. Chris has been writing about the IBM midrange industry since 1992 when he signed on with Duke Communications as West Coast Editor of News 3X/400. With a bachelor's from the University of California at Berkeley, where he majored in English and minored in Journalism, and a master's in Journalism from the University of Colorado, Boulder, Chris later studied computer programming and AS/400 operations at Long Beach City College. An award-winning writer with two Maggie Awards, four business books, and a collection of poetry to his credit, Chris began his newspaper career as a reporter in northern California, later worked as night city editor for the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, and went on to edit a national cable television trade magazine. He was Communications Manager for McDonnell Douglas Corp. in Long Beach, Calif., before it merged with Boeing, and oversaw implementation of the company's first IBM desktop publishing system there. An editor for MC Press Online since 2007, Chris has authored some 300 articles on a broad range of topics surrounding the IBM midrange platform that have appeared in the company's eight industry-leading newsletters. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

BLOG COMMENTS POWERED BY DISQUS

LATEST COMMENTS

Support MC Press Online

$

Book Reviews

Resource Center

  • SB Profound WC 5536 Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application. You can find Part 1 here. In Part 2 of our free Node.js Webinar Series, Brian May teaches you the different tooling options available for writing code, debugging, and using Git for version control. Brian will briefly discuss the different tools available, and demonstrate his preferred setup for Node development on IBM i or any platform. Attend this webinar to learn:

  • SB Profound WP 5539More than ever, there is a demand for IT to deliver innovation. Your IBM i has been an essential part of your business operations for years. However, your organization may struggle to maintain the current system and implement new projects. The thousands of customers we've worked with and surveyed state that expectations regarding the digital footprint and vision of the company are not aligned with the current IT environment.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT Generic IBM announced the E1080 servers using the latest Power10 processor in September 2021. The most powerful processor from IBM to date, Power10 is designed to handle the demands of doing business in today’s high-tech atmosphere, including running cloud applications, supporting big data, and managing AI workloads. But what does Power10 mean for your data center? In this recorded webinar, IBMers Dan Sundt and Dylan Boday join IBM Power Champion Tom Huntington for a discussion on why Power10 technology is the right strategic investment if you run IBM i, AIX, or Linux. In this action-packed hour, Tom will share trends from the IBM i and AIX user communities while Dan and Dylan dive into the tech specs for key hardware, including:

  • Magic MarkTRY the one package that solves all your document design and printing challenges on all your platforms. Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits. Request your trial now!  Request Now.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericForms of ransomware has been around for over 30 years, and with more and more organizations suffering attacks each year, it continues to endure. What has made ransomware such a durable threat and what is the best way to combat it? In order to prevent ransomware, organizations must first understand how it works.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericIT security is a top priority for businesses around the world, but most IBM i pros don’t know where to begin—and most cybersecurity experts don’t know IBM i. In this session, Robin Tatam explores the business impact of lax IBM i security, the top vulnerabilities putting IBM i at risk, and the steps you can take to protect your organization. If you’re looking to avoid unexpected downtime or corrupted data, you don’t want to miss this session.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericCan you trust all of your users all of the time? A typical end user receives 16 malicious emails each month, but only 17 percent of these phishing campaigns are reported to IT. Once an attack is underway, most organizations won’t discover the breach until six months later. A staggering amount of damage can occur in that time. Despite these risks, 93 percent of organizations are leaving their IBM i systems vulnerable to cybercrime. In this on-demand webinar, IBM i security experts Robin Tatam and Sandi Moore will reveal:

  • FORTRA Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAManaging messages on your IBM i can be more than a full-time job if you have to do it manually. Messages need a response and resources must be monitored—often over multiple systems and across platforms. How can you be sure you won’t miss important system events? Automate your message center with the Robot Message Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAThe thought of printing, distributing, and storing iSeries reports manually may reduce you to tears. Paper and labor costs associated with report generation can spiral out of control. Mountains of paper threaten to swamp your files. Robot automates report bursting, distribution, bundling, and archiving, and offers secure, selective online report viewing. Manage your reports with the Robot Report Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAFor over 30 years, Robot has been a leader in systems management for IBM i. With batch job creation and scheduling at its core, the Robot Job Scheduling Solution reduces the opportunity for human error and helps you maintain service levels, automating even the biggest, most complex runbooks. Manage your job schedule with the Robot Job Scheduling Solution. Key features include:

  • LANSA Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.

  • LANSAWhen it comes to creating your business applications, there are hundreds of coding platforms and programming languages to choose from. These options range from very complex traditional programming languages to Low-Code platforms where sometimes no traditional coding experience is needed. Download our whitepaper, The Power of Writing Code in a Low-Code Solution, and:

  • LANSASupply Chain is becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable. From raw materials for manufacturing to food supply chains, the journey from source to production to delivery to consumers is marred with inefficiencies, manual processes, shortages, recalls, counterfeits, and scandals. In this webinar, we discuss how:

  • The MC Resource Centers bring you the widest selection of white papers, trial software, and on-demand webcasts for you to choose from. >> Review the list of White Papers, Trial Software or On-Demand Webcast at the MC Press Resource Center. >> Add the items to yru Cart and complet he checkout process and submit

  • Profound Logic Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application.

  • SB Profound WC 5536Join us for this hour-long webcast that will explore:

  • Fortra IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn: