My cousin, who works in IT, said my password was 'a gift to hackers' after seeing it was just my dog's name and the year.

I switched to using a password manager and generating 16-character random strings for everything after that, but is there a better free option than the one I'm using?

3 comments

3 Comments

torres.thea11d ago

Glad you switched to a password manager, that's the single best move you can make. The free tier of Bitwarden is what I use and it's been solid for years, handles all my devices. The key is making sure your master password is a strong, unique phrase you'll remember, because that's your only lock now. Some people also turn on two factor auth for the manager itself for an extra layer. Honestly, as long as you're generating and storing unique passwords, you're already way ahead of most people.

knight.felix11d ago

Oh man, @torres.thea is totally right about the master password being the key. I made mine a line from a silly song I'll never forget, mixed with some numbers. It's like twenty characters long but I can actually remember it. Turning on two factor for the manager itself was a game changer for my peace of mind, it just feels locked down tight.

iris92711d ago

What happens if you need to share a password with a family member for something like a streaming service? I've seen people just text it, which totally defeats the point. Some managers have secure sharing features built in, but if yours doesn't, you have to get creative. I worry about creating a weak spot when someone else needs access. It feels like a hole in an otherwise perfect system.