By Neil J. Rubenking
The best-known password managers seem to come from one-product companies, vendors whose energies are all focused on password management. However, that doesn’t mean other vendors can’t join the party. Kaspersky Password Manager (Multi-Platform) ($14.99 per year) performs all expected password management tasks, but it doesn’t measure up to the best single-focus products feature-wise.
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Kaspersky Password Manager (Multi-Platform)
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The last time I reviewed Kaspersky Password Manager, it was a completely different product, licensed from a third party. The current edition is an in-house creation, totally built from scratch. Its simple interface puts your passwords, secure notes, and personal data identies at your fingertips.
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Getting Started
You can start using Kaspersky Password Manager without paying a thing. You’ll be limited to storing 15 passwords and one form-filling identity, but you’ll totally have a chance to take the product for a test drive. Like it? Then simply upgrade to the paid edition.
While you’re installing the software, it offers to import any passwords stored in Chrome, Firefox, or Internet Explorer. The installer can turn off password capture in Firefox and IE; it warns that you’ll have to perform that task manually in Chrome.
As part of the setup process you’ll create an Online Dating Kaspersky account (or log into your existing account) and define a strong master password. As always, the master must be strong enough that nobody could guess it, yet memorable enough that you won’t forget it. Kaspersky rates master password strength as you type, which is helpful.
Basic Operation
Once the browser plugins are activated, you’ll interact less with that main window. As expected, Kaspersky captures your credentials when you log in to a secure site. In testing, I found that it handled normal logins just fine but missed some two-page logins and logins with a non-standard layout.
When you return to a site with saved credentials, Kaspersky fills in what it has. I did find that when I saved two sets of credentials for a single site, it didn’t fill in either, but clicking the browser toolbar button displayed both and allowed me to choose. You can also go into the main window and flag one for automatic login.
Click the toolbar button and click All Accounts to get a menu of your saved logins. As usual, choosing one of these both launches the website and logs you in. You can also start typing in the search box to find an item quickly. That’s handy, because while you can assign logins to groups in the main application, those groups don’t become submenus under All Accounts.
Jumping Ship
With this product’s earlier edition, you could import passwords from RoboForm Everywhere 7, LastPass 3.0 Premium, or KeePass 2.28. That’s no longer the case; the current edition only imports from browsers, and only during installation.
If you’re intent on switching from another password manager to Kaspersky, you’ll have to get your hands dirty. Enable Kaspersky in one browser and the other product in another. Then step through the passwords from your old manager and copy/paste them to log in under Kaspersky.
Organizing Passwords
The application’s main window displays five tab names down the left side: Favorites, Web, Applications, Identities, and Notes. You’ll probably spend most of your time on the Web tab, which lists all your saved sites in a narrow column down the middle and displays the selected item’s details at right.
You can only see eight or nine saves sites at a time, so if you’ve saved a lot you’ll want to organize them into groups. Just click the icon to add a group, then drag the matching items into that group. Kaspersky doesn’t support nested groups the way LastPass and Sticky Password 7 do. There’s also a handy search box that narrows the list to show only matching items with each character you type. If you really have a ton of saved logins, you can click a star icon to make your most-used ones show up on the Favorites tab.
Personal Data
Like many password managers, Kaspersky includes the ability to save personal details and payment options and use them to fill Web forms. To get started with this feature, you’ll define an identity and enter the relevant data. Basic data includes full name, phone, email, and preferred Web login, as well as your company name and title. You can expand these items to add more detail, things like gender and age, snail-mail address, IM accounts, and business details.
You can also add one or more credit/debit cards or bank accounts to each identity. In addition to basic information like the card number, CCV, and cardholder name, you can add details like the issuing bank and that bank’s customer service numbers. Remember this information syncs to your mobile device; having your bank’s phone numbers handy while traveling could be a godsend.
In testing, I initially ran into serious trouble, probably due to the fact that my Kaspersky account has been accumulating glitches over many years and many product versions. The All Account menu wouldn’t appear, and it didn’t fill Web forms. When I created a brand-new account, the All Accounts menu appeared, but I still couldn’t get the product to fill Web forms.
Kaspersky’s live chat support told me that the auto-fill system had been tested on the top 100 shopping sites, so I made a pretend purchase at Amazon, WalMart, Ikea, Best Buy, and Target. In each case, I chose to check out as a guest. And in each case, Kaspersky did not fill in the Web form.
At the last moment, my Kaspersky contact came through with an explanation. Apparently the latest build broke this feature for Windows, making form-filling a Mac-only feature at present. According to my contact, “The next update will have fixes to the Windows side.”
Application Passwords and Secure Notes
The majority of password managers stick to handling passwords for your numerous secure websites. Kaspersky, like Sticky Password, LastPass Premium, KeePass, and a few others, can also manage your application passwords. However, Kaspersky doesn’t actually auto-enter your saved passwords the way KeePass and LastPass do. Rather, you must copy and paste the essential information.
Kaspersky saves non-electronic secrets like padlock combinations and identification numbers in the form of secure notes. You just enter your unformatted information and Kaspersky keeps it safe, with your passwords. The key here is that you can access that secure note from any device. LastPass takes this concept further, with predefined templates for various types of secure notes, among them health insurance data, software licenses, and Wi-Fi passwords.
Multi-Platform Support
One important feature in this edition is support for multiple devices and platforms. You can install Kaspersky Password Manager on all of your Windows, Mac OS, Android, and iOS devices, and keep all of them in sync. The Windows and Mac editions are roughly parallel, and the mobile editions come as close as operating system constraints allow.
As with many mobile password managers, Kaspersky’s iOS version opens websites in its own proprietary browser. Apple’s tight control over inter-app communication makes that almost a necessity. Kaspersky doesn’t offer Touch ID authentication the way LastPass, Dashlane, Keeper Password Manager & Digital Vault 8, and a few others do. You use the clipboard to copy/paste application passwords and personal data from saved Identities.
The Android edition is quite similar. It, too, launches sites in its own browser, and handles application passwords and personal data using copy/paste. I did notice that the Favorites tab doesn’t appear in this edition. On selecting an identity, I was pleased to see the credit card data depicted as an actual picture. Dashlane takes this concept further, adding bank logos to a credit card image in a online dating-specified color.
Advanced Features
The password manager defaults to logging you out automatically after 10 minutes on the desktop editions or 1 minute on the mobile editions. Beyond that, you won’t find a lot of advanced features.
Two-factor authentication greatly increases the security of your vitally important password collection. Keeper, LogmeOnce Password Manager Ultimate, and Intuitive Password 2.9 are among those that support authentication via a code sent by text message. LastPass and Dashlane support Google Authenticator for two-factor login. Kaspersky relies solely on the master password, so be sure it’s very strong.
Dashlane, LastPass, Keeper, and LogMeOnce let you securely share login data with other online datings. Dashlane and PasswordBox Premium deal with the problem of passing on your credentials in the event of your demise. Kaspersky sticks with the basic password management features.
Not Outstanding‘
I’m willing to write off my problem with Kaspersky Password Manager (Multi-Platform) not filling Web forms in Windows. I’m sure they’ll get it fixed soon, and in any case, form-filling is not a central password management feature. However, this product’s lack of advanced features leaves me unwilling to recommend it. I’m guessing that most online datings of this product receive it as a component of a Kaspersky suite.
The free LastPass 3.0 doesn’t include mobile support, but LastPass 3.0 Premium does, which means it gives you everything Kaspersky does, and more. Dashlane 3 isn’t free, but it also seriously outstrips Kaspersky feature-wise. Its support for Touch ID on iOS and the new automatic password changer seriously stand out. I’d advise choosing any of these Editors’ Choice products for your password management needs.