Kaspersky Lab has introduced the new generation of its freemium solution Kaspersky Password Manager.
Now, the solution not only stores login/password pairs but also payment data – which gets an extra layer of protection when entered automatically on sites – as well as scans and photos of documents, which the product is capable of recognising.
According to a recent survey of 14 552 respondents from 30 countries around the world, the average adult Internet user has 14 password-protected online accounts, services or applications.
In an age of information overload, Kaspersky Password Manager means users only have to remember one master password to access a secure vault containing their logins, passwords, contacts, bank card details, and more.
All that data is stored in encrypted format and automatically entered into the corresponding registration forms on sites. It is also synchronised across a user’s computers and mobile devices, as well as the web version of the solution on the My Kaspersky portal. No one but the user has access to the data.
That’s why it’s important not to forget the master password – without it, data recovery, even via Kaspersky Lab technical support, will be impossible.
The new version of the solution now comes with the option to store and automatically enter the user’s address and banking data on payment sites. To provide additional security for this valuable information and prevent possible theft, the product only transmits this information to sites after their reliability has been verified.
The new Kaspersky Password Manager can also scan a computer for images of documents, for example, passport or insurance policy scans, which many people store in this format – just in case.
Thanks to technology based on machine learning and an algorithmic approach, the product determines whether an image is a document, and prompts the user to save it in a secure form inside the program and delete the unencrypted copy if desired.
The technology doesn’t recognise the content of the document and doesn’t send the picture to Kaspersky Lab servers for processing.
It works locally on the user’s device and detects the presence of text on pictures by analysing a specific pattern of lines.
The Kaspersky Password Manager only scans the device for pictures with text if the user starts this process in the product’s settings. With mobile devices, it is possible to take photos of documents directly from the program – they will be immediately encrypted without remaining on the device in an unprotected form.
The free version of Kaspersky Password Manager includes 15 stored entries, which can be a username/password pair, an address, a bank card number, an image or another document.
In the paid version, the number of entries is unlimited. At the same time, all user data can now be sorted manually in the program for convenience and quick access to the most frequently used entries.
“Kaspersky Password Manager in its current form has become a single secure storage for the user’s most valuable data that can be accessed safely from any device at any time,” says Dmitry Aleshin, vice-president: product marketing at Kaspersky Lab.
“However, it’s much more than storage. The solution also saves its owner time and effort by automatically filling in forms, giving hints for strong passwords, checking the security of sites and finding confidential documents stored on a device in unprotected form.
“It means we not only help safeguard the user’s digital life in all its manifestations but also facilitate