this post was submitted on 04 May 2024
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Does it make sense to have separate emails for each individual financial account (banking, credit cards) or is that overkill? I'm just thinking that if a hacker got access to one email they'd have all account information?

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

They'd only have all account info if the passwords were also the same and you didn't avail yourself of 2fa/mfa. It's better to have different strong passwords/long passphrases and use mfa. Separate email accounts become their own vectors for account hacking, not to mention that any personal security scheme you have that becomes too complicated with multiple accounts to juggle is it's own security problem.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Could you explain how separate emails would increase security risk? I ask because I've used separate emails for absolutely everything and it has only ever helped me with security( if I get a Microsoft security notice to anything other than [email protected], I know it's not legitimate).

I don't mean in lieu of 2fa, strong pass, etc, I mean in conjunction. I don't see how it could hurt.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Sure. It can be "less" secure from a procedural perspective because it increases the complexity of the user accessing their info. The more difficult/complicated it is for the user, the more likely of user mistakes exposing their accounts in one way or another. Obviously there are password apps that allow for seamless login (some of those can also be problematic), which alleviates the complexity, but then you have multiple email accounts to manage on some level for the various services and websites you use.

End of day, if it works, it works, but it's important to pay attention to your user experience while also taking in to account the various tools (strong pass, mfa, etc) when setting yourself up. If you get annoyed that you have too many emails to manage, you might be more likely to not log out, or not use mfa, etc.

edit wasn't trying to say it was WAY more insecure to use separate emails, just that it probably wasn't necessary if you have different pass and use mfa. Sometimes 'more, better' isn't 'more-better'.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

multiple email account? Not really. It is typically implemented using some email proxy or alias like anonaddy or simplelogin. By the look of it is multiple accounts, but in fact you're just receiving mail forwarded to you in one account. All you have to do is append any strings as the user with your domain.

(anonaddy and simplelogin requires adhoc address generation using subdomain by them or a domain owned by you with MX records pointing to their servers)

disclosure: I'm a current customer of anonaddy. Never used simplelogin though.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Thanks for the info. You'll have to forgive my ignorance as I'm not super well-versed but, I was of the impression that alias software like anon and simple login were more for avoiding spam and unwanted emails from sign ups. Is it also effective as a security tool?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

Security wise, maybe. You might be more protected against cred stuffing but reusing password on multiple services at the first place is already a big no no.