Introduction

Seclave is a standalone hardware password manager: a handheld device with a display, a joystick and a power switch. Your passwords are stored, encrypted, on the device. They are shown on its screen or handed to a computer only when you ask for it on the device.

What is in the box

The Seclave device has two controls:

  • The power switch on the top right side.

  • The joystick, the large button next to the display. It can be moved in four directions (left, right, up, down) and pressed straight in.

_images/seclave01_640x480.png

Throughout this manual:

  • Move left / right means nudging the joystick sideways to move through a menu or a list.

  • Press (or “press in”) means pushing the joystick straight in to choose the highlighted item.

  • Up goes back to the previous menu.

How you use it

There are three ways to get a password out of Seclave, and you choose per use:

  • Read it on the screen. The device shows the field on its own display; the secret never touches the computer.

  • Let Seclave type it. With the device plugged into a USB port, Seclave acts as a keyboard and types the password (and optionally the username) into the computer for you. See Typing passwords to the computer.

  • Let a program on the computer ask for it. In Usb slave mode a program on the computer can look entries up over a USB connection, with the device asking you to approve each access. See Usb slave.

You can also back up and restore the whole device, and move passwords in from a password manager on the computer. Those are covered in Backup and restore and Managing entries.