New to 1Password — cloud security & data recovery questions

bjspiers

Hi, I'm quite new to 1PW, I currently have it on all my 3 apple devices (mac, iphone and ipad). At the moment, I have all my email and forum passwords running on 1PW and it's all working great. However, I have not put any of my bank accounts on yet as I am a proverbial doubter!!

I have read a few posts on here where peoples information on 1PW has 'vanished' for whatever reason, now if this happens with 16 character passwords and changed usernames (that I could never remember) it would be the most painful situation trying to renew passwords on several bank accounts where log on information has changed beyond recognition.

I would be very grateful if someone at Agilebits could put my mind at rest and answer the following questions:

1. I'm using the icloud to sync, is any of my 1PW information available on the internet or is it just on my devices and nowhere else?

2. If, like some have stated on here, all my 1PW information vanishes, can it be recovered and how easy is this to do?

Really sorry if I sound like a real doubter, but I have always kept my bank account information safe and secure and putting all my eggs in one basket really goes against the grain!!

Barry

Stephen_C

I'm sure someone from AgileBits will chime in as you request so please forgive my intrusion. :)

1. Your iCloud data wanders off into Apple's servers, of course. However, nobody can access your 1P4 data without knowing your master password. The data on the Apple servers is encrypted by a key generated from your master password.
2. 1P4 automatically creates backups on your machine (and, of course, you regularly back up your machine as well :) ) and you can always restore from one of those backups if the unthinkable happens.

Personally, I don't let my 1P4 database wander off into anyone's cloud, but that's purely my own preference. I've used 1P3 and 1P4 for a number of years and have never had any information "vanish" from either version—even when testing betas of 1P4—so I do think it's pretty robust.

Again, only a user and not from AgileBits...

Stephen

bjspiers

Thanks Stephen, appreciate your comments, yes, I do back up my iMac using time machine to an external hard drive. If you don't use the icloud I assume you just have 1pw4 on one device only or do you use the wifi option?
Thanks again,
Barry

Stephen_C

Barry, I currently use folder sync to transfer (via iTunes) the keychain to my iPhone and iPad (I update 1P4 entries almost invariably only on my Mac). I shall probably move to wifi sync when the updated iOS version of 1P4 comes out.

By the way, I meant to say before that I store in 1P4, without hesitation, my most sensitive information including bank account details and logins.

Stephen

bjspiers

Any comment from AgileBits?

bjspiers

Not getting much reassurance on my concerns from AgileBits, the doubt deepens...........

Jasper

Hi @bjspiers,

It seems that @Stephen_C has answered your original questions, were you looking for more information about something?

If you're interested in learning more about the security of your data in iCloud, please see:

Security and Design Overview

A good master password withstands even sophisticated, targeted attacks: http://blog.agilebits.com/2012/07/31/1password-is-ready-for-john-the-ripper/

Please let us know if you have any other questions. We're always here to help! :)

bjspiers

@jasperP, many thanks, you have answered my questions, the doubt has now gone!!

Just one final question, I'm pretty confident that I will not need to sync away from my home wifi, that being the case, would I be better off using my wifi to sync instead of the icloud which I'm using at the moment? Would home wifi be a more secure option or does it not matter?

Thanks again,
Barry

Jasper

Hi @bjspiers,

It's up to you really. If you're worried about storing your data in the cloud, wi-fi sync would be a good choice. On the other hand, wi-fi sync is a manual process rather than the automatic syncing that iCloud provides.