14 DAY TRIAL // In the modern era more and more people feel the need to secure their sensitive information from various types of intruders. The most common threats nowadays are the identity theft attempts made by the so-called "electronic criminals" who try to get their hands on personal data for financial gain. You may know this better as "phishing," the e-crime that started to spread frantically from the late '90s. As there are many phishing techniques that involve fake websites, e-mails or even voice phishing (vishing), you need to be very careful when storing and disclosing your personal information.
One of the best ways to keep your data safe is to encrypt it with strong, randomly generated passwords that are made of more than letters and numbers. Finding such a piece of software is not too big a fuss, but getting a utility that can both store and encrypt your financial and other personal information could be a bit tricky. And it's even more difficult if you don't want to spend a dime on such a tool. Fortunately, there are some answers for you and LockCrypt is one of them.
This freeware utility is designed to offer you easy-to-use account information management tools that will also encrypt the stored data so only you can access it, provided you use a strong password. You don't need to concoct it all on your own as the application comes with a built-in password generator that can create pass phrases virtually impossible to break.
The first time you run LockCrypt you will be prompted to input a password so that only you will be able to access the application, but it's not a mandatory step - you can leave that field blank and choose the password later on from the Options menu. The interface of the app is very user-friendly and this makes it suitable for both experienced and novice users.
The "main working area" of the software is composed of a tree view and an account view that structure very clearly the accounts and groups as well as their content. Also, at the initial run of the application, these areas will be filled with a set of examples that can be either modified to suit your needs or simply deleted and replaced with the ones you want to create.
To create or edit an account or a group you simply need to select it and press the "Edit" button in the main toolbar or right-click the entry to find the editing command. The available fields are not limited as you can remove the ones you don't need and add your own in any number you see fit to better personalize that particular record. Once you've configured the application, created and populated your accounts, groups and account types you can easily export them in a number of formats that include .CSV, .TXT, .XML and a LockCrypt database specific format.
A very handy feature of LockCrypt is the synchronization capability that will enable you to import and export data from and to external sources. The databases supported by this utility are text files and MySQL, the latter allowing you to always access the same database, regardless of location. You will find this feature most useful especially if you need to use the information on your stored accounts from more than a single location (home and work for instance).
Another feature that makes LockCrypt stand out from other storage tools is the "Secured Clipboard" that will further secure your information in real-time, or better said as you work with said data. This function manages the Clipboard contents grabbed when you use the "Copy field" button in a very simple way: it is stored for the exact amount of time you set and once that period is over, the data is deleted. For this reason, if someone accesses your computer when you're not present, or after the set delay time is consumed, they will not be able to reuse the clipboard contents and retrieve the sensitive data you were working with.
When it comes to creating passwords, you don't actually need to be very inventive, just let LockCrypt make one for you. And boy, does this utility know how to make an impossible pass phrase! I was able to create passwords 500 characters long using symbols I never knew existed. The password generator can exploit uppercase and lowercase characters, digits, brackets, special and even extended ASCII characters. And if you think this is all, think again. If you ever want to make a personalized password type, you can. More exactly, you can build your own secret code that contains only a certain type of characters at a specific interval. For instance, you can set your 3rd, 11th and 23rd digits to be ASCII characters. Who could imagine you did that while trying to break your seemingly "regular" password?
Almost anything you can think of about this application is customizable. Creating and editing accounts, groups and even account types is simply a breeze, as is the task of finding the ones you need by using the incorporated search function. Even the viewing and item sorting options are quite varied, resembling a lot the ones you find in Windows Explorer. The level of detail goes as far as offering you a set of original icons you can use for each account or group in order to visually identify them faster. The great internationalization of LockCrypt is also worth mentioning, as the app is available in twelve languages.
The Good
The great thing about this software is that it can be fully configured by the user in order to meet the needs of every individual. The built-in special features add to the value of this tool as it offers a very useful password generator and the possibility to secure the clipboard contents in real-time.
For ease of access, the synchronization capability is most welcomed as more and more people carry their data from home to work and vice versa on a regular basis.
The Bad
Written in Java, LockCrypt does eat up system resources at times, but it's not something to be really worried about. Also, those looking for eye-candy in this application need to look somewhere else as there are no flashy fade-in menus or fancy looking buttons.
The Truth
Truth be told, this software offers all you need in terms of managing and protecting personal information, with a few handy extras you won't find in other similar applications. It is very easy to use, highly customizable and, on top of it all, it's free.
