OneDrive - esp in Windows 8.1

Mark_O

Hi,
Any best practices or tips for securing the OneDrive password especially within Windows 8.1? The service is integrated w 8.1 so I use my OneDrive (MS Live) password to login to the system ... Catch 22 - can't open 1Password to get password...

Ideas anyone?

Mark

RichardPayne

Use a diceware password so that you can remember it, rather than a completely random gibberish password.

DBrown

@Mark_O, what does the OneDrive password prompt look like, and in what circumstances does the prompt appear?

Have you tried creating an application Login for it, in 1Password 4 for Windows?

Imo

DBrown you dont seem to be a user of Windows 8.1? ;)

In Windows 8 Microsoft integrated Microsoft Accounts for logon, so you login with your Microsoft Account to your Windows Computer. The password is the same for outlook onedrive etc.

But what I could suggest is that you use pin unlock (its available in the ModernUI control panel), then you can just use your pin to login and still use a strong password for onedrive. In case you ever misstype the pin you could still look up the password in 1password on another device.

Hope that helped :)

Mark_O

Thanks for the tips. Haven't heard of diceware so will check that out but pin unlock might be the way to go - hoping similar in use to 1PW for iOS B-)

ings

Using the Windows PIN unlock is what I do too. That way I can use a strong random password stored in 1Password for OneDrive, and a short PIN for local Windows logins.

Dave Ings

DBrown

I do use 8.1, thanks. :) I don't use OneDrive, though, because I use Dropbox for syncing my 1Passsword data across multiple PCs, Macs, and iOS devices.

Even with OneDrive installed fairly recently for testing purposes, I haven't locked the OneDrive folder—your post is the first mention of locking it that I've seen—so I haven't seen a prompt to unlock it. That's why I asked what the prompt looks like and in what circumstances it appears.

@Mark_O's question about needing a password for OneDrive to be able to open the folder where 1Password data is stored is the same as for people wanting to view their 1Password data (using 1PasswordAnywhere) on their private dropbox.com web site: you need your Dropbox password to get access to the .agilekeychain folder, then you need your 1Password master password to open 1PasswordAnywhere.

As @RichardPayne‌ suggests, both need to be passwords you can remember.

RichardPayne

I tend use a memorable password for my primary email too so that I can do password resets in the event a catastrophic loss of my 1Password vault.

MikeT

Hi @Mark_O‌,

Like others have mentioned, using a diceware password would be the best way to go in case you want to use the password instead of a PIN. I wouldn't recommend a shorter PIN if your computers aren't stationary and protected. In other words, if you use a laptop that you take with you everywhere instead of a desktop in a locked room at your place, you'd want to use a strong password with full disk encryption.

In addition, a diceware is also more convenient to use on mobile devices where you wouldn't have to worry about switching keyboard types often to enter special characters. A longer password can be stronger to use than a shorter password with random special characters.

Another example is in my Apple ecosystem of devices. I use a diceware password for my AppleID account. When I get a new device or Mac, I can just use that AppleID account to sign into iCloud, which would then download the data from iCloud, including my 1Password data, and all I have to do is open up 1Password to enter my master password.