If your PC is used by more than one person though there is a security issue you may need to worry about when it comes to showing others your login information.

By default, if you go under Tools, then your Options and then the Security section, anybody could get in there and look at your user names and passwords – as long as they had access to your PC. To fix that you want to set a master password.

First go to Tools and then Options. From there your Firefox options window should pop up and you want to go to the Security tab. From there check the box that says “Use a master password”. Now another box should come up asking you for your master password – type it in twice, and make sure you remember it.

Now when you go to Tools, Options, Security and then under the Passwords section hit the “Show Passwords…” button it should ask you for your master password before showing all your saved password information.

Recover Passwords in Firefox Options

For the “long way around” fix – go to:

Tools > Options > Security

Once you find yourself there in that popup options box, go down to where it says “Show Passwords…”. Click that button and a new popup box should appear listing all your web sites and login names. To show your passwords click on the “Show Passwords” button and click “Yes” through the warning it tosses at you.

Quicker JavaScript Fix

For those needing a quicker fix – you can use the Firefox Asterisk Revealer. It uses a line of javascript copied and pasted into the address bar to take a shorter route at getting this job done.

Forgotten Password User Scripts

For the Greasemonkey fans – there are a few more options to try:

• Show Password onMouseOver
• Show Password onFocus
• Show Password ondblclick
• Unpassword

Show Passwords – Yes, an Extension Too!

Unhide Passwords – Sure there is a time and place for security – but if you really need to see what is behind the asterisks, this extension shows the contents of password fields in clear text (instead of the asterisks), to make that process a bit easier.  Have any other fixes?

The Secure Login extension does the trick. So I bet your asking, “well, how do I login then?”. It uses the built-in password manager, but deactivates the pre-filling of login forms. You are now able to login with one click or a keyboard shortcut (ALT+N – changeable via settings). Just add the Secure Login tool bar button to your tool bar, or use the provided status bar icon.

The handiest feature of all the things this security tool does is the disabling the pre-filling of login forms prevents malicious JavaScript code to automatically steal your login data. If your worried about your login information being grabbed by the wrong folks – this extension might be right up your paranoid ally.

So how do you gain access to this area? It really is not that difficult. Just click on the “Register” link on the Mozilla Addons web site, fill in your information – and you are all set.

Now as a word of warning, some of these themes and extensions have good reason for not being on the public list just yet. If you feel like you want to help out you might try installing one you like, and then give the author feedback about any issues you have or any fixes that might come to mind.

When you type on your keyboard, the keys travel along a path within the operating system before it arrives at your browser. Keyloggers plant themselves along this path and observe and record your keystrokes. The collected information is then sent to the criminals who will use it to steal from you.

+ Learn More and Install the KeyScrambler Personal Extension for Firefox!