At last count, I had over 300 usernames and passwords in my password manager. It’s a ridiculous state of affairs and not one that is likely to change soon either. Whatever technique or tool you choose to use, there’s a balance to be struck between convenience and security. Sonavation‘s IDKEY might help increase both convenience and security, so Todd puts on his white hat with Jason Oliver from Sonavation.

The M-series IDKEY combines 16 GB of encrypted storage with a fingerprint reader, a small screen and a built-in database to manage confidential information. Simply, it’s a secure password manager that goes on a keyring – no need for any cloud storage here. Once unlocked with a fingerprint, usernames and passwords can be read off the screen, or more usefully the information can be passed securely to a web browser or mobile device via wifi, bluetooth or USB. It’s FIDO-compliant and physically meets FIPS 140-2 Level 3, meaning that anyone who tries to take the hardware apart will destroy the data in the process.

Pre-orders are open now for the M-series with availability expected in Q1 for $279. It appears from the IDKEY website that there is a cheaper X-series version but no detail on price.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central for the TechPodcast Network.

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