passwords

Laxman is annoyed that when he logs into his phone, he gets "dots" instead of the password itself. How can he change that so he can see the password? Leo says the idea is to stop people from looking over his shoulder and seeing his password as he types it. But Leo says that he should have the option of not having that. The security merits of it are dubious. The dots also show the first letter briefly, and people could easily record the password as its typed on the keyboard. Sadly, unless his app gives him the ability to see it, he's stuck with the dots.

Barry is locked out of his Samsung Galaxy Note 4, and doesn't have a backup. What can he do? Leo says that if Barry had enabled the Android Device Manager, he can change his device's password remotely, along with a host of other security features. That's really his Hail Mary. If that doesn't work, then a factory reset may be his only option.

Peggy wants to know if LastPass can change her password automatically? Leo says no, she'll have to do it manually, but LastPass does provide a one touch button option to do that.

Jack wants to password protect a thumb drive. Leo says one way he can do this is to encrypt the drive. He can also use BitLocker in Windows to do it. He can just right click the thumb drive and select the encrypt option. A third party option is TrueCrypt.

Vicky works out of her house in California, while her office is back East. Since they've added McAfee on her computer, her passwords aren't being saved in her browser. Leo's not a fan of McAfee, but since Vicky has no choice, she should check her settings to see if there's something triggered that's preventing it. Can she use post it notes? Leo says sure, because she works at home and that's not going to hurt. She can also keep a notebook.

John's router from the ISP is very easy to get into, and there's no way to change the password. Will LastPass protect him from a brute force attack? Leo says LastPass will only help him if he's able to change the password on the router. Then he could use LastPass to generate a secure password and store it for him. Leo says if he can turn off WLAN Administration, then he should at least do that. Even if an outsider were to log into his router, they only could really change the settings. But this still isn't a great solution.

Brad hears that you don't have to use your fingerprint for Apple's Touch ID -- you can actually use other body parts. Knuckles, palms, and even noses can work. Some guitar players or construction workers who have callouses on their fingers may not be able to use fingerprints. So for those people, they need to think outside the box.