Tools for generating strong secure passwords.

One of the downsizes of today's highly digitalized world, is the need to use a host of passwords for almost any activity Online. With the plethora of passwords comes the need to remember them when needed, which on itself can be a challenge. But with the threat of security breach, there is an added challenge to come up with strong and secure passwords that are not easy to figure out. One can already see the dilemma here: the need for more secure passwords and the one to remember them when needed. There are some digital tools usually referred to as password managers, available to help solve that dilemma and they varies in sophistication and effectiveness.
Some of them are totally free while others require a license or subscription. The nice thing about them, is they almost all use encryption to ensure maximum security, and they allow the generation of incredibly hard to pick passwords without the need to remember them, having only to remember a master password. The New York Times has run through some of these passwords generating tools and here are some of them listed here: KeePass, a free open source software originally built for computers running on Windows, but now availble for Mac, Linux etc. Mobile versions of the application are available for many mobile devices including the iPhone and Blackberry.
Second on the list of the New York Times, is LastPass, which it said, is a browser plug-in that works on Mac, PC and Linux.
1Password is another tool considered by the Times as user friendly; people who want to try it can download it and do so for free for 30 days. After that, it will cost $39.95 for a single user.
RoboForm is another option for PC users and comes in a free and a paid version depending on your preferences. The paid one will cost you $29.95 for one license and for about $10 more, you can add more features like USB storage, secure login information etc.
PC users have another option called Password Vault costing $ 29.95 for a user and last but not least, is
i-Wallet a solution that uses biometric instead of a master password and costs $39 for a license according to the Times.
The list may end here, but the choice for password managers is almost as unlimited as ever.

For more, see NewYorkTimes.com