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.

  • morgin@lemm.ee
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    3 months ago

    Apple is releasing a more comprehensive password manager in the next few months, if she’s heavily in the apple ecosystem the switch could be pretty convenient

    Obviously bitwarden or keepass would be great but this would be a bump up from being stored in a browser

      • Puttaneska@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        My understanding is that your GF will be using Apple’s KeyChain, which is pretty good except that it’s hard to look inside and manually edit. It’s not just in Safari.

        The upcoming Password app is just a nice user interface to KeyChain. So no change to the functionality as such, but I think it’ll make a big difference to how it’s used.

        • unrushed233@lemmings.world
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          3 months ago

          it’s hard to look inside and manually edit

          It’s actually pretty easy when you’re on a Mac. They bundle an app called Keychain Access, which lets you look at and edit everything.