this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2024
583 points (96.5% liked)

Privacy

32482 readers
219 users here now

A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.

Some Rules

Related communities

much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

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.

(page 2) 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago (4 children)

Using Proton Pass was a game changer to me , I don't have to ignore the necessity to put a strong and complicated password for security reasons anymore, Proton generate it to me and stores everything ( so I don't need to remember which password I set for which account ) But the bad aspects of cloud services worry me a little about this: the possibility of a security breach of the service, or the possibility of not being able to access it for any reason is a real disaster if it happens... so I'm thinking of exporting my passwords to another safe place for such cases.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago (7 children)

But the bad aspects of cloud services worry me a little about this

KeePassXC is entirely local.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago (3 children)

Which creates issue with having to synchronize it between devices. There is always something to worry about :)

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (6 replies)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

even if their servers were compromised it's all encrypted. it only decrypts on your end

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

But I wanna tell people my master password to my pw manager. It's such a fantastic password that no one could ever possibly guess I would have. I wanna gloat.

[–] idefix 7 points 4 months ago (14 children)

I migrated to Bitwarden from Firefox a few months ago and I regret it as it's slower and inconvenient while not adding any major features. So yes, use a password manager and the one provided by Firefox is perfect for almost everyone.

load more comments (14 replies)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago (9 children)

Is there manager than create password based on masterpassword and domain/username? Do not want to lose all password just because drive dies. Do NOT want to use cloud anywhere.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago (7 children)

backups backups backups.

keep a copy on your computer, your phone, and every spare drive u have in the house. ask a friend to store the file at their place.

also, whats wrong with a cloud provider, if the file is encrypted ?

load more comments (7 replies)
load more comments (8 replies)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago (1 children)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago (19 children)

I don't even understand why I need to make a password for some sites anymore. They send a code to my phone everytime.to make.sure it's me so it seems like there's practically no point.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago

Because different layers protect you against different things. It's like how you have anti-lock brakes, a seatbelt, an airbag, and crumple zones on your car. You don't just have one thing to protect you.

load more comments (18 replies)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago

I store my master password on a sticky note attached to the bottom of my desktop's power supply. Easily accessible if I were to die, but sufficiently secure that if it were physically compromised I would have significantly worse problems on my hands.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago (3 children)

What's wrong with a password manager built in the browser?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Honestly nothing. I recommend this to everyone because it is the easiest way to set up and offers huge advantages.

  1. No more password reuse, per site random passwords.
  2. Auto-fill reduces chance of phishing attacks work because you get suspicious if the password doesn't auto-fill.
  3. Most browsers will integrate it into their sync service to reduce the risk of you losing your passwords.

I think these are the two biggest benefits and every browser password manager will accomplish both.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago (1 children)

That's what I've resorted to, but I only use Firefox because it has a master password.

Chrome has no master password so what stops any fool from stealing your passwords while you're taking a piss, I don't know.

Password managers always cause me headaches, though, and never want to integrate correctly. More trouble than their worth in my estimation.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

Why preach to this choir? I get you, but we also get it.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago (6 children)

How do I convince my girlfriend to stop using her safari password manager and migrate it to bitwarden? Is the password manager in Safari so unsafe that it's worth the additional effort she might ask.

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (10 children)

So many folks talking about which software they use, and how they sync it between devices etc.

You all know there are hardware password keepers right? They present to your devices as a usb and/or bluetooth keyboard and just type out the user/password that you select. They have browser plugins to ease the experience. Now your password is not even stored on the device you're using to perform your login and it will work on any modern device even without internet access.

Oh and no subscription fee to cover the costs of cloud infrastructure.

load more comments (10 replies)
load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›