S.D.I.-Consulting BVBA

Password Tracker

Password Tracker is an application to keep your passwords in an encrypted file on disk, protected by a pass phrase so that they are safe. Even if the file containing your passwords falls in the wrong hands, the pass phrase is needed to decrypt it.

Sourceforge

The application uses the unpatented Blowfish encryption algorithm which was invented by Bruce Schneier. The encryption is reasonably safe. The application is based on the Password Safe application from Bruce Schneier, it aims to be compatible with it.

History and Goal

I started using the original Password Safe application from Bruce Schneier, which was a native windows application, and I still find it very useful. I try to maintain a number of different computers running different OS’s. On Linux I am using WINE to run password safe. I didn’t want to be “locked in” in an old format that I didn’t understand, I was afraid my data would get lost at some point. Therefore, I wanted to be able to decode the file format myself to be able to recover my data if this would be necessary. Some things were bothering me a little bit regarding the application.

The current Password Safe project hosts a Java version as well but I decided not to investigate this solution further. I noticed that there has been progress on the Java version since I started my own implementation, but I did not investigate it further. These remarks are probably not valid anymore at this point in time.

So I decided to rewrite the complete application from scratch without reusing code. Simple to install, clean lean interface, a handy polished tool.

Credits

Idea of the application comes from the Password Safe application. This was first written by Bruce Schneier, and than transferred to the open source community. It is now available at: http://passwordsafe.sourceforge.net. The Password Safe project was important to know the file format, especially the header format which is not trivial.

I found some more information about the file format in another open source project which is also based on the Password Safe application. It is the Password Safe password database application which can be found at: http://nsd.dyndns.org/pwsafe.

Password generator:

Encryption:

Libraries:

Project Links

Related blog posts

Password Tracker 1.4   (2009-03-01)
Password Tracker reaches version 1.4. This application keeps your passwords away from hackers by storing them in an encrypted database. It is a small, simple but extremely handy application. Since it is written in Java, it is cross platform. It runs on Java 1.6+.
Password Tracker 1.3   (2007-05-21)
A cross platform utility that lets you keep your passwords in an encrypted file on your hard disk.
Password Tracker Nominated   (2006-02-11)
JARS – The Java Applet Rating Service is a review service that uses in-house personnel as well as an independent group of skilled judges to review Java™ applets and applications. Additionally, we maintain a database of program submissions that will function as your guide to the best Java programs the Web has to offer.
First Realease of Password Tracker   (2006-01-05)
Today the first version was released of the Password Tracker tool. Password Tracker is an application to keep your passwords in an encrypted file on disk, protected by a pass phrase so that they are safe. Even if the file containing your passwords falls in the wrong hands, the pass phrase is needed to decrypt it.