Brain-based management is getting too exhausting, and isn’t even fully possible with a larger quantity of online accounts.
Self host. Keepass, NAS with a sync app across devices. Occasional manual backup. Probably overkill.
I use KeePass database for all my passwords and other database for recovery passwords (like from 2FA codes etc). I have it synced in my Nextcloud and ProtonDrive (In case my Nextcloud would fuck up).
keepassxc
Bitwarden
KeePass database in cloud storage, synced to my phone.
Nice try
I ask AI to make me a random password for “x” service. Whenever I need to remember it, I just ask again \s
Vaultwarden
I ask AI to make me a random password for “x” service. Whenever I need to remember it, I just ask again
I’ve already seen someone do that, a certain family member. At first I found it funny when they asked an LLM about their WiFi password, which was some gibberish. But it worked. There’s no way something like that would be default across entire product line.
Indeed, when I asked, I got “I gave it screenshots of everything because I didn’t know what to type where”.
I use Password123$ everywhere.
A bit of a tangent but these are the right people to ask… What do you think when a site or app says that your password is too long?
I think the site stores my password in its original form, without hashing. its way too common, even at high profile services like banks, university or government systems.
I’m glad they told me and didn’t just truncate it forcing me to reset everytime.
pass: the standard unix password manager for tech-savvy people. It’s dead simple: just a directory of GPG-encrypted files that you can sync across devices using git or other means. It has a CLI interface, an Android app, and a Firefox extension.
with that you need to type the unlock password for every single read and search, right?
Bitwarden
To further this, if you actually move over to any password manager please regenerate all of your duplicate passwords with something 20+ characters. It’s almost pointless to have a PW Manager if you’re using the same weak password everywhere.
Make a new strong password for your master password too; I’d recommend a phrase of four moderately long words like “BattleshipMonitorPaintingPrinter” and perhaps a little postit note doodle drawing to remember it until it’s hammered home.
Alternatively, writing down the master password somewhere secure, like in a safe, would also be good if you have to pass on important accounts to descendants.
Or a USB with a Gpg encrypted text file locked with a slightly easier password.
That’s my reason for wanting to switch to a password manager. Everything gets some long random string that would be insane to type anyway. Or using passkeys, if supported, though I’ll have to research how that works.
My biggest problem is backups. I like the method of Aegis authenticator. It just stores some number of past (encrypted) databases. Each change is a new file. This way rsync takes care of both backups and version control. If I accidentally rsync a corrupted file, it doesn’t matter much. And I can verify them with Rhash, just like all files that don’t change (like photos).
I’m fairly sure you can self host Bitwarden, so it might be possible to have backups in a similar way
I think Vaultwarden is the self-hosted version
With gnupg, git, and a hardware security token. Also known as “pass”.
Have you considered trying pass phrases? Weirdly, they can sometimes be easier to remember depending on where you take it from.
I write down a password hint on a physical piece of paper.
Since the primary threat vector is remote access and not physical access, I’d argue that is fine.
Additionally the password hint has to pass through several thought chains in order to provide the actual password.
I do wish sites would up front tell you what the password requirements were when you logged in though.
Mostly i get by by not telling others how or where I keep my passwords
Do you add 1 and then ! or ! And then 1 to secure your passwords?
