Atek Logio password storage gadget
Remembers the login details you can't
Review Whether you’re logging on to a computer, withdrawing cash from a hole in a wall or reviving a comatose mobile phone, passwords are a daily nuisance necessity. With so many mundane tasks requesting usernames and passwords, a possible solution to this ongoing memory game is the Atek Logio Secure Password Organiser, which acts as the keeper of the keys and nothing more.
About 3mm thick and only slightly wider than a credit card, the Logio features a "US government recommended AES encryption algorithm". There are no computer interface options and no backdoor access. Forget the master password, then forget about ever unlocking the Logio again – it’s junk.
Atek's Logio: keeper of the keys
Supplied with a leatherette wallet, lanyard and a 50-page user manual, it’s easy to overlook the single coin-cell battery taped inside the packaging that now lingers in the bin. This commonplace CR2016 cell slides in a fairly unobtrusive slot on the bottom left corner of the Logio. Fortunately, all records remain in memory when the battery needs replacing.
Available in black or white, the Logio has a landscape mode aspect with alphanumeric keys laid out horizontally, plus a range of data-entry shortcut keys. Adjacent to the three-row LCD screen - capable of showing up to 11 characters per row before scrolling - are the navigation keys, power button and enter key. The Logio relies on a membrane keyboard, which can be set to beep to confirm key presses.
The initial set-up requires the master password to be entered before anything else can be configured. This has to be numeric only and between eight and 15 digits long. The manual offers some mnemonic suggestions which, considering this is an aid for the forgetful, is a thoughtful addition. Entering the master password is the only time that the keypad becomes numeric-only. At all other times, it works like a mobile phone, requiring repeated key presses to access the different characters assigned to each key.
COMMENTS
Truecrypt is your friend
On an old 128mb usb attached to my keys.
Usually there is a usb port nearby when entering a password, and (despite the shoeing above) Ash is right, remembering PINs is not difficult (unless you have far too many)
Has merits
If this device were pointless, then why would I see so many passwords stored on sticky notes? Obviously people are having trouble remembering passwords. And obviously they are not all using the mobile phone and desktop software programs or USB drives that are available for this purpose. If a handy little device like this can help them manage passwords, that sounds to me like a potentially very useful product. Frankly, I like the idea that it's disconnected from the computer...seems safer to me since you never know what malware is lurking in the shadows of your PC (or phone!) and potentially seeing everything, including passwords on software or a USB drive.
@Bassey
Never much liked random generators myself - always preferred acronyms of English phrases. So in the case of your 12 char admin password, you could use something like 14Tmm14yltts! - I am the magic man. I am your link to the subconscious.
pointless
I just set all my passwords and PINs to the same thing -- my place of birth in the case of the former and my day and month of birth in the case of the latter.
Unless someone manages to get their hands on my birth certificate (tucked carefully in the back of my wallet, in my back pocket - safe as houses!) I've got nothing to worry about.
Pi in the face
@Ash - Interesting how you assume not being able to memorise 4 PINs is beneath you, and memorising pi to 78 decimal places is a 'real' achievement. Well, seeing as people have memorised it to 100,000 places I'm not sure about why you think you're any different to the 4 PIN forgetters , in the grand scale of things unless you can recite pi to 10,000 places you're a flop'pi' (disk).
