Come on, admit it. Yes, you. You’re the person who keeps every one of their passwords, from their Yahoo! account to their bank info, on a Post-It note stuck to the monitor. Then there’s those of use who are a bit more secure than keeping every password on a Post-It. Instead, we use 1 password for everything. This password isn’t some md5 hash of a random string of data though, it’s literally password, or some other easily guessable word. I’ll skip the middle group (different passwords, mostly secure, boring, etc.) and go on to the super secure. These are the people that would invest in the Army approved and tested Mandylion Password Manager. This definitely isn’t a gadget for Grandma.

Inside and out, this device has been thoroughly tested. It’s sole purpose is to generate and protect your passwords. You can safely store up to 50 different logins, combinations, key codes, or any other sequence of data. Passwords can be all sorts of characters (02-c_x*2w9c for instance) and are limited to 14 characters in length. The device can also force you to change your password at set intervals. To activate the device, you press a user-set series of buttons (there’s 5). e.g. you’d press button 1 -> button 4 -> button 3 -> button 1 and so on. Once activated, you can view your passwords securely on the LCD (it has a privacy protector, just like your iPod!). If there’s any nefarious attempts to gain access, you’ll be greeted with a tampering warning message when you activate. Honestly, all of this is confusing me, so here’s a concise list of features for the both of us:

* Manages up to 50 login records simultaneously
* Generates cryptographically strong passwords
* Complies with all DoD, Govt. & Industry Password Security Policies
* Multiple tamper-resistant features and lockout alarms
* Manages Root and Group passwords
* Cradle connection via USB
* Kit containing: token, a configuration cradle, Policy Master Configuration Software
* Dimensions: Approx. 2.5″ x 1.5″ x .375″ (65mm x 45mm x 10mm)

It’s affordable at only $50 from ThinkGeek.

EDIT: I’ve just realized that we’ve already covered this gadget — there is a positive note though, ThinkGeek has a new price on this gizmo, $50 instead of the previous $270 for 5 fobs. Whether or not this required a lengthy post remains to be determined.

My apologies