Wallet
Waterfall Software
Price: $14.95
Pros: Excellent encryption, familiar interface, and iPod storage of items.
Cons: Logs in to websites in existing windows instead of new ones; most functions are already spread about in Mac OS X.
by Gerrit Dalman
Macs may not be as exposed to malicious exploitation as Windows computers, but our private information is still vulnerable. It is unwise to store passwords, credit card numbers, and other private data on your computer without some kind of security. Waterfall Software's Wallet is a great solution.
With Wallet you can store and organize any sensitive data in a secure database, preventing accidental or malicious access to your information. It's "military-strength 448-bit Blowfish encryption" ensures that nobody can access or interpret the database without the password you control.
Using that one password you can access all your serial numbers, web services, credit cards, agenda items, and contacts. The interface is similar to Apple's Address Book and is quite intuitive. Selecting an item from any of the groups displays the data and editing items or adding new ones is a one-click process.
While storage and organization is great, Wallet delivers some nice features for retrieval and access that are even better. Principal among these is auto-fill for the web services group.
Web services items contain login information for websites and with just one click Wallet will load that page, enter the username and password you have stored, and (optionally) click the submit button for you. This time-saver works with Safari, OmniWeb, and Internet Explorer and the only downside is that it will load the page in an open window if you have one rather than a new one.
Wallet packs a few other handy security tools too. It can "quick-lock" with one click or after a period of inactivity, allowing you to keep the app open but still secure. It also saves an access log that lets you see if anyone else has been trying to work with your Wallet database. Finally, it contains a random password generator to help you select good passwords for any occasion.
All of that is great, but sometimes you want this kind of information elsewhere. Wallet can export to a secure database file or an insecure tab-delimited text file. Better, if an iPod is connected it will become visible in Wallet and you can drag and drop any item onto it. Items will be accessible on the iPod via the notes menu, but insecure. As if that wasn't enough, Wallet prints items nicely, but it's up to the user to remember to store sensitive information in a safe place.
Wallet's job is pretty specific and it performs well. Of course a lot of these features are already available in Apple's Keychain Access or Safari, but what Wallet provides is a consumer-friendly way to perform these tasks. It's affordable and make's a great one-stop solution for personal data security in Mac OS X.
System Requirements:
* Mac OS X 10.2 or higher