Ask HN: How do you manage passwords?
I suspect many of us could improve our handling of passwords for various online services. What is a good approach?
15 comments
I memorize them, and forget them frequently. Although I'm surprised by how many I can keep in my head at once.
I found I have brainspace for ~15 passwords. All complex - non words greater than 8 characters.
Though, as I get older.. I can feel this ability waning. Thus I am interested in using a password manager - though I feel a little uncomfortable about it as I have never used one before.
Though, as I get older.. I can feel this ability waning. Thus I am interested in using a password manager - though I feel a little uncomfortable about it as I have never used one before.
At first I thought 1Password would be slightly helpful, but it's proven itself incredibly useful. All my passwords are complex and different and I have reliable encrypted backups of them.
At work, we use a shared Keepass file (Keepass is a password manager). We are only a small team, so this works out quite well. And this leads us to very secure (and different!) passwords for all our client servers and accounts, because getting and setting passwords is just a click away.
Private, I use a simple system where I have a 'master' password, which I augment with letters and numbers based on the domain name of the service. For example (not my system): A domain has 5 letters and a .com TLD, so I add the number 5 to the end and 'moc.' to the beginning of the master password. You can easily expand this system for your needs. Works really well for me.
Private, I use a simple system where I have a 'master' password, which I augment with letters and numbers based on the domain name of the service. For example (not my system): A domain has 5 letters and a .com TLD, so I add the number 5 to the end and 'moc.' to the beginning of the master password. You can easily expand this system for your needs. Works really well for me.
One of my colleague suggested me http://keepass.info/
its pretty good
I am also using KeePass and it is a great solution for password management.
1password works great for me, I periodically push encrypted backups to other machines, just in case. And now after finishing this comment, I intend to sync the backups to my dropbox account.
Another vote for 1password here, since the Chrome extension its been perfect for me
i write em down on paper, hack that!
Dropbox with a Keepass file on it. Accessible from all types of machines and phones I use, very handy (Windows computer, Linux Computer, Android Phone)
http://lastpass.com/ is easy, secure, and free.
(I have no affiliation with them, apart from being a happy user.)
(I have no affiliation with them, apart from being a happy user.)
Password Gorilla : https://github.com/zdia/gorilla/wiki
Firefox Sync; don't forget to set a passphrase for the 'software security device'.
Some passwords I keep in a gpg-encrypted textfile.
Some passwords I keep in a gpg-encrypted textfile.
I use the built-in OSX "Keychain" app. It's integrated into the OS such that if you use the "save password" feature of your browser, it ends up in the Keychain anyway.
It also generates great passwords, so now I generate a new pw for each site rather than re-using a handful of common ones.
It also generates great passwords, so now I generate a new pw for each site rather than re-using a handful of common ones.
I (and lots of others) use the same 6 digit, lowercase, dictionary-based word. Something like 'monkey' or 'password'