Customer Reviews

Mandylion Password Manager, Cradle And Token

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The Mandylion EBP07 is NOT "used by thousands of DOD personnel" as stated on the product page for this on many seller's sites.

It can only store and generate passwords 14 characters in length. The current minimum character length requirement for DoD Information Systems (IS) is 15 characters. Also, almost all DoD IS restrict the use of USB devices to mouse and keyboard only, no other USB devices may be plugged in.

Avoid purchasing a device that you can not use on DoD systems.

ref: [...]

With the world becoming more and more dependent on technology and hacking someone's personal information being one of the newest tragedies of theft, I decided I wanted to protect my passwords a little better.

After reviewing this product and a few more, I thought that the Mandylion Password Manager was my answer to my security problems.
Not only did it contain up to fifty different passwords and account numbers together but it created randomly generated passwords to better protect the user. Not only that but it was also tested by the DoD. It sounds too good to be true, right?

There were not a lot of bells and whistles on the package. Just the cradle, pendent, and CD-ROM in vacuumed sealed packaging. It looked clean and simple looking. After opening and inserting the CD-ROM in, I found out that this device had a little bit of a learning curve to it.

The instructions were a little hard to follow but I managed to get the pendant, cradle and my computer working together. I am currently running Windows 7. Even though it says it operates on Windows 7, it feels like it would run better on XP. I say this because a lot of good hardware today allows for you to just plug something and it takes care of itself. This was not the case for the device. I had to go under my computer and select the device or go into the program files to use any function of the password manager.

The device works when the user fills in an excel like template with account numbers and keys in settings such as a randomly assigned password or passwords with only certain characters being used or a set password typed in. Once this is done, it is then uploaded onto the pendant for safekeeping. You can choose to save the template on your PC. Supposedly, you can also just use the pendant to key in information. The down side to the pendant is that you use only four buttons to create a password to access a device that contains all of your other passwords. I tried out some fake info just to see if it worked.

My first sign of trouble other than the unusual installation of the program was the pendant screen being slightly blurred out at the beginning. I thought this odd but figured if I keep playing with it maybe it will work out. The program seemed to randomly generate a password and it seemed to work but I wanted to fix the screen. I tried to find a factory default switch or program to restart the pendant. The closest thing I found was the failsafe feature for unauthorized number of entries then reinstalling the pendant. This wiped all of the memory (any passwords, account numbers, etc.) and left the pendent blank. I then tried to reconfigure the pendent to the cradle and my PC. It did not seem to link up very well. The information was not being transferred to the pendent. However, the screen did seem to be functioning properly now.

I decided to uninstall the software and start fresh. I did this and still had problems with linking the pendent and the screen started to go glitchy on me again.
I came to the following conclusions:

I am using the software/hardware because I feel unsafe about my passwords security. However, this device may or may not change my passwords when I want them changed due to the link up. Also, the pendant which could contain all of my financial data is enclosed in very weak plastic which I am supposed to wear on a keychain. Finally, I still have the template of my account numbers and files on my computer for a hacker to find and use.

In conclusion, I think the DoD might have been on the right track. It was a great idea and had some great features but the craftsmanship of the pendent and the software on the product left the device unreliable for such sensitive information. There are others that have had better luck with the product than I have. However, my suggestion is to find a better or different product.