A friend has a notebook next to her computer with all her passwords in it. Initially I was horrified - what if you’re burgled? - but actually it’s genius. Much more secure than letting a browser remember them, and she doesn’t even need to memorise a Bitwarden password.
It’s a primitive password manager, primitive because unencrypted and not integrated into your devices, but far better than not having a password manager.
My mom told me that she was made fun of for having a book of hand written account credentials related to running her business (6 people total). I told her it was the best way to do it that wasn’t massively overcomplicated for her situation and to keep it up. The only recommendation I made is that she use different long passwords for every site since she’s already not memorizing them.
Personally I’m not convinced this isn’t the best way unless you’re being targeted by physical bad actors
Sure, if someone knows her physical address, knows how to disable the building alarm, knows what drawer she keeps the passwords locked in, and knows how to pick the lock, she could be in trouble. But that is a very targeted attack and if someone is that determined she’s screwed anyway.
99.9% of attacks are the “low hanging fruit, protected from repercussions by not physically being there” kind.
Someone like an employee, janitor, or maintenance worker who has physical access to the building already is what I’m talking about. That’s definitely a low hanging fruit type of attack. See your boss’s passwords while your pissed off, snap a picture with your phone, fuck with them later.
A friend has a notebook next to her computer with all her passwords in it. Initially I was horrified - what if you’re burgled? - but actually it’s genius. Much more secure than letting a browser remember them, and she doesn’t even need to memorise a Bitwarden password.
In a household it’s probably not that bad. There aren’t many people breaking into homes looking for account details.
I’ve had my identity stolen several times, and every single time it was stolen from a Fortune 500 company.
I just make all of my passwords password123 then I don’t have to worry about memorizing them
*********** that’s what I see
Really? hunter2
Yeah, when you type hunter2, all I see is *******
Maybe they’re using one of those instances that censors things, lol
It’s an ancient meme. https://web.archive.org/web/20040604194346/http://bash.org/?244321
Yeah, these newfangled password requirements ruined my life. I refuse to sign up for any website that doesn’t let me use hunter2.
Ah, my girlfriend’s approach. No matter how much I show her a pwned password or set her up on my Vaultwarden, she’s not interested
Just add the same memorized bit to the end. Something simple like “123” would work. Even if the book is stolen it won’t do them any good.
Kind of like salting.
This concept is also known as Double Blind Passwords or Horcruxing.
That’s an excellent idea! I’ll mention it to her.
It’s a primitive password manager, primitive because unencrypted and not integrated into your devices, but far better than not having a password manager.
Assuming the laptop is running bitlocker (often on by default), has a user password, and is offline, that’s pretty decent.
Notebook refers to a paper notebook. Not a laptop.
And in which world is bitlocker on by default? Nope.
A world where we all go insane from explaining “we can’t just ‘hack’ your bitlocker key” over and over to every older relative we have…
This one
https://www.tomshardware.com/software/windows/windows-11-24h2-will-enable-bitlocker-encryption-for-everyone-happens-on-both-clean-installs-and-reinstalls
My mom told me that she was made fun of for having a book of hand written account credentials related to running her business (6 people total). I told her it was the best way to do it that wasn’t massively overcomplicated for her situation and to keep it up. The only recommendation I made is that she use different long passwords for every site since she’s already not memorizing them.
Personally I’m not convinced this isn’t the best way unless you’re being targeted by physical bad actors
Where is this book? In the office? I’d say that’s absolutely horrible. If it’s at home I think that’s more okay.
Or maybe behind a keyed lock in the office? Not a keypad, a physical key.
Nah, most locks are really crappy.
Sure, if someone knows her physical address, knows how to disable the building alarm, knows what drawer she keeps the passwords locked in, and knows how to pick the lock, she could be in trouble. But that is a very targeted attack and if someone is that determined she’s screwed anyway.
99.9% of attacks are the “low hanging fruit, protected from repercussions by not physically being there” kind.
Someone like an employee, janitor, or maintenance worker who has physical access to the building already is what I’m talking about. That’s definitely a low hanging fruit type of attack. See your boss’s passwords while your pissed off, snap a picture with your phone, fuck with them later.
What if the notebook gets destroyed or lost, though? That’s my biggest concern here