this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2024
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It is truly upsetting to see how few people use password managers. I have witnessed people who always use the same password (and even tell me what it is), people who try to login to accounts but constantly can't remember which credentials they used, people who store all of their passwords on a text file on their desktop, people who use a password manager but store the master password on Discord, entire tech sectors in companies locked to LastPass, and so much more. One person even told me they were upset that websites wouldn't tell you password requirements after you create your account, and so they screenshot the requirements every time so they could remember which characters to add to their reused password.

Use a password manager. Whatever solution you think you can come up with is most likely not secure. Computers store a lot of temporary files in places you might not even know how to check, so don't just stick it in a text file. Use a properly made password manager, such as Bitwarden or KeePassXC. They're not going to steal your passwords. Store your master password in a safe place or use a passphrase that you can remember. Even using your browser's password storage is better than nothing. Don't reuse passwords, use long randomly generated ones.

It's free, it's convenient, it takes a few minutes to set up, and its a massive boost in security. No needing to remember passwords. No needing to come up with new passwords. No manually typing passwords. I know I'm preaching to the choir, but if even one of you decides to use a password manager after this then it's an easy win.

Please, don't wait. If you aren't using a password manager right now, take a few minutes. You'll thank yourself later.

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

Unless you really really need portability between devices, paying for an online password manager is idiotic in my view, you're generally just waiting for someone to hack it (which happens all the time).

I use firefox's local, inbuilt manager and that's everything I need.

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago (6 children)

i dont understand this post. like every browser has a password manager, why install some 3rd party you can even trust less?! am i missing something? doesnt safari have a password manager? is keepasscx really safe (CVE-2023-32784)? or bitwarden (https://blog.redteam-pentesting.de/2024/bitwarden-heist/)?

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[–] [email protected] -1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (5 children)

I use a password pattern. I have hundreds of different passwords all stored in my head and all between 10-20 characters long. The trick is to have a deterministic formula for picking a password.

Example: short word + First 6 in url + symbol + short word capitalised + number

Let's say the first word is cat and second is dog, symbol is - and number is 5 and you have a Gmail it would give you

"catgmail-Dog5"

https://www.passwordmonster.com/ gives it 61 years to crack this one but if you use longer words you get better times.

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[–] [email protected] -2 points 3 months ago

I’m not in IT but I followed the Michael Bazzell podcast until he disappeared. Guy was a bit paranoid but there was great info there. My understanding was browser saving passwords isn’t secure, that those passwords are open to scraping from bad players. Ofc I can’t reference this because the entire body of over 300 podcasts disappeared with him.

Agree on Bitwarden and such.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 3 months ago (3 children)

just. write it down? in a notebook? keepassxc is rly good if you dont want to do that though

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[–] [email protected] -4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (7 children)

My password manager is

mkdir ~/Account/some.domain
cd $_
genpasswd | openssl some-cipher -k 'really strong encryption password' >pass.enc
echo username >login
#decrypt
cd ~/Account/some.domain
openssl some-cipher -d <pass.enc | xclip
#paste in field
xclip login
#paste in field

Couldn't be easier, couldn't be safer.

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