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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Changing passwords is almost always completely useless, and requiring it dramatically weakens security.
What’s the logic behind this statement? I would’ve thought that if a website’s logins and passwords were somehow leaked, the more often I change my password, the less likely it is for the leaked password to still be usable by bad guys based on the shorter time horizon.
Leaked how? No good practice allows any way for a password to “leak”.
What rotating passwords does is ensure people who don’t use a password manager either write their password down more and more frequently, or use a weaker password with some simple changing pattern that doesn’t add anything.
Suppose a social media website has a data breach.
Okay, but suppose I use a password manager like Keepass, then does rotating my passwords not make me any safer in the event a social media website’s data is breached and ends up being sold off on the dark web?