Asterisk Password Decryptor

CNET Editors' review

by: CNET staff on January 13, 2009

Those who rely on automatic log-in features may get in trouble when they have to actually remember what resides behind those asterisks. This concept for KRyLack Password Decryptor offers help for those situations, but we ran into problems with its functionality in our tests.

The program launches a tastefully designed, easy-to-use interface that's simple to comprehend. Each button and field is carefully labeled to explain the steps for using this tool. We liked its look and feel. Unfortunately, it just didn't perform well in our tests.

By dragging an icon from its interface over the asterisks in a password field, KRyLack should display the actual password in its Recovered Password pane. However, it only works with Internet Explorer, so if your default browser is something else, you may as well skip the rest of this review. Second, KRyLack didn't reveal any of our passwords in any of our tests. Third, during the fifth time we attempted to use the tool, it wouldn't function at all: a message box popped up and said, "Out of memory."

The trial version only displays the first three characters of the password, a common restriction for this type of program. Of greater concern were the functionality issues we encountered. Although we like the premise for this app, we can't recommend it as it stands. Perhaps an upgrade will solve its problems. Till then, keep those passwords tucked securely in your memory!