Password managers
Does anyone use something like LastPass to help with password wrangling? Is it worth it? What if I use multiple computers/devices/operating systems?
I feel like I've always been pretty good with my passwords overall but in this day and age, one can never be too careful.
PM me all your passwords, I'll keep track of them. No charge.
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I use KeePass at work for passwords I never have known or looked at at like service accounts or backup accounts. I don't use anything at home because my memory is impossibly good.
i also use keepass at work for various accounts that i feel shouldn't have the same dumb password i use for a lot of other things
No. I just have them all written down.
Given that I tend to only use like two or three passwords for everything, I feel a if I should have a better system in place. A combination of laziness and not knowing how tends to keep me from updating.
KeePass is pretty good. I used it for work. I started using KeePassX at home for stuff that needs to be more secure (bank accounts and such) and it's more or less the same - might be Linux only, not sure. The vault formats are not cross compatible yet so I recommend playing with them before committing either way.
I use LastPass. UI-wise, it's honestly not good at all but I have to use it because of reasons. It's also available on most systems/devices/browsers, at least all the ones I use, so that's a plus.
http://passwordsafe.sourceforge.net/ - pwsafe a simple database that sits in a single file on your computer. I keep the file in Dropbox. pwsafe works on Windows and Android, and there's a Linux beta. The UI isn't convenient, but I don't trust things that auto-fill into forms and auto-sync to "the cloud" or whatever.
Is it worth it? Yes, if it prevents you from doing dangerous things like using the same password on multiple sites, or using weak passwords so that you can remember them more easily. Right now I use a different password for literally everything, and I don't know any of them. My passwords are 16+ characters of random crap. I remember the master password to pwsafe and copy/paste it from there. I highly recommend using something like this.
Honestly, most accounts aren't worth bothering protecting with giant password strings to me. It just matters very little if my random Yahoo account is compromised, for instance, so it just has a simple password.
It's not that hard to have a schematic password system where you can use specific attributes of what you're logging into, to maintain a long/complex password that's easy to remember. It's virtually impossible to ever break a password that's simply a 30-character sentence, for instance, even if it's just basic English words. For instance, no brute-forcing will ever break the password "ThisismyEyesonFinalFantasypassword." and if the actual hash is compromised or your password is socially-engineered or phished away from you it doesn't matter what your password is anyway.
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