SWIFTY

Nick Peers takes a close look at Swifty, an offline password manager with a slick interface and hopefully bright future.

Credit: https://getswifty.pro

Nick Peers has been running his own selfhosted Bitwarden server since 2019. Practise what you preach and all that.

OUR EXPERT

TAKE THE SWIFTY TOUR

1 Online sync

Link Swifty to your Google account to sync your password vault to other computers.

2 Secure categories

In addition to storing your online login details, you can create secure notes and store credit card details.

3 Password audit

Click here to check which passwords need updating, to make them less vulnerable to hackers.

4 Item list

The currently selected category’s items are shown here in an alphabetical list.

5 Filter view

Use the search tool or apply a range of filters to quickly drill down to the item that you’re looking for.

6 View item

The information stored in the currently selected item is displayed here – copy it to the clipboard or click Edit to make changes.

Everybody needs to look after their passwords. The problem is how do you set up a system where each separate account you own is protected by a strong – and unique – password (see the box, opposite) that you can enter easily on demand?

You could, of course, write down your passwords in a notebook, relying on an online password generator such as the Secure Password Generator (https:// passwordsgenerator.net) to generate those passwords as and when they’re required.

The problem is, that notebook will need storing somewhere secure, and flicking through it looking for passwords to type in quickly becomes laborious. The solution is to look for an automated solution that you can access from your PC.

This is where the humble password manager comes in. These store all your passwords inside an encrypted database commonly known as your ‘vault’. The database is protected by a single master password, which you use to unlock the vault and access its contents.

Password managers come in all shapes and sizes. At one end of the scale is a cloud-based tool such as LastPass or Bitwarden with all the convenience they offer: tools for every platform and browser, built-in password generators, autofill capabilities and more. The downside? Your password vault is stored online on thirdparty servers – do you trust them?

One solution is to set up your own self-hosted password manager using Bitwarden, but if you’d rather your passwords weren’t stored online, and you’re happy to limit their access (for now) to just your computers, then why not give Swifty a go?

Local passwords for local users

Swifty’s a relatively new entry into the market, and it’s aimed more at those currently using an offline password manager such as KeePass. The user interface is more akin to the likes of Bitwarden and LastPass, and the password manager makes it possible for you to store more than simple log-on details – you can also use it to record secure notes and credit card information.