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Comment by nodesocket | Hacker News Reader

Password reuse is still a huge problem. Even my friends who are somewhat savvy (not professionally in tech) don't know what a password manager is or use one.

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The response I get from even savvy tech people is like I just told them they really should be flossing more.

It's like when a dentist tells you that it's ideal to brush three times a day after meals, plus once more in the evening.

Sure, but then an honest dentist told me that what's most important is flossing and brushing before bed.

So what's the analogous tl;dr for account management? Don't use passwords like "mysecretpassword", and don't reuse them?

"Use a password manager" is the tl;dr already.

Sure, but http://www.darknet.org.uk/2017/03/lastpass-chrome-extension-...

So maybe, "use a local password manager"?

Then we find out flossing isn't much benefit: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/aug/02/dental-floss...

Well, when you're older, with iffy teeth, flossing removes trapped food that will cause inflammation and pain, the next day. That's personal experience.

Sadly I have to upvote this based on personal experience.

Was reading this thread right after the thread on John Goodenough. There are different things that happen as one gets older that one wishes didn't. Still, it beats the alternative.

Except you really shouldn't brush right after a meal: http://www.hamiltonsmiles.com/blog/2016/04/dont-brush-after-...

First, rinse with or drink clear water. Then chew some sugarless gum. Both of these practices will produce saliva, restore a healthy pH level in your mouth, and coat your teeth with nourishing minerals. Out of all the sugarless gums available, the best of the best are those that list xylitol as the first ingredient. Another option is to consume cheese, milk, or another non-acidic food or drink to conclude your meal.

After you have given your mouth time to return to a healthy pH, feel free to brush your teeth.

Well good, that's how I've been doing it.

Which is weird, because using a password manager makes things easier. It's not extra effort to be secure.

using a password manager makes things easier

Until you lose the database, then things become really difficult.

I find this to be really difficult to do with 1Password

I can access my phone and email without the password manager. That's enough to recover the rest.

Data loss sucks no matter what it is. That's why God gave us backups.

There have been lots of attempts to fix this problem. The latest one is the W3C Web Authentication draft spec.

I hope we get to the point where authentication doesn't rely on the human memory at all.

Several password managers have been hacked though...

The same author has an article on this subject as well: https://www.troyhunt.com/password-managers-dont-have-to-be-p...

He isn't giving me any hard data or proof that password managers are superior other than "they are because I say so." I'd like to see statistics. It seems intuitive but often things that seem intuitive are not so. I can see many ways a central repository of ALL my passwords could be more disastrous than someone hacking my login at one site.

We should not have had to use password managers if the sites asking for passwords had not been developed by doofuses but then again...

After I searched for my credentials on haveibeenpwned I have started to use the suggested password feature for my important sites. I should really move all of them to this instead of my memorized password.

Sure, I don't think this is arguing that password reuse is not a problem.

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