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Comment by herdcall | Hacker News Reader

Yes, it just works; but a few days back all my devices suddenly lost almost all of the passwords. Not all but most of them, couldn't make out any pattern or reason. Luckily a Linux laptop that I don't usually use had the full set and I had to export them, sync, and import them back to restore everywhere. Very scary, any ideas why this could've happened? I immediately backed up for the future, but this kind of loss should not be happening.

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No idea. I've been using Firefox and Sync for years, currently on 5 devices (one android). Never had a problem. Firefox 121.0 (64-bit). This is the "release" channel. Maybe you're beta testing?

Me too. It is so flawless that I had forgotten how good it works until seeing this article pointing that fact out.

Same, I've been using Firefox for years and it's always just worked. Recently it got faster, too, now sending tabs between devices is instant.

You know what, you could be onto something. I'm using the Firefox Developer version (122.0b3 64 bit). In any case, how are the differences resolved? E.g., in my recent case, all the devices ended up with only a handful of passwords (17), whereas the Linux laptop had 858. When I brought that laptop online (after exporting them), it synced and also ended up with the 17. I wonder what the logic was to deduce that the 17 are the ones to keep and the 858 should be deleted (there are some common ones of course). Because after sync when I imported the 858 back, it kept them all and synced them to all other devices, so it considered them as additions that should be kept.

Weird, I'm using Firefox across 6 different devices, different OSes (Android, MacOS, various Linux distros) and different versions (current or LTS) and it just works.

Unfortunately my company blocks the sync password feature :-(

A reasonable policy given the lack of control. What do they provide you with as an approved password manager?

Notepad

The notepad application or a pad of sticky notes with which to decorate your monitor with the halo of arcane sigils known to ward off security breaches?

Both. I like to keep a file in notepad updated with all my corporate passwords, which I then print and post on the wall by my monitor.

I also use a label maker to fix the login credentials for shared computers on the backside of their keyboards.

I suspect people like me are the reason my firm is trying so hard to migrate to single sign in instead of dozens of unique passwords which require updates

> I also use a label maker to fix the login credentials for shared computers on the backside of their keyboards.

That's not terrible, depends on the level of physical security you have

> which I then print and post on the wall by my monitor.

That's pretty bad any any passing person or camera can see them

> Both. I like to keep a file in notepad updated with all my corporate passwords

That's the worst of your 3 methods though, but for many attacks is more secure in practice than using chrome/google sharing, especially if the file isn't called "password.txt" or similar.

It sounds to me like you're a hero.

I absolutely loathe needing to know more than one password per sector of my life - ideally I'd prefer a password manager as they're more flexible.. but SSO is alright too.

postits glued to my monitor :-)

Better than most. Just don't do it in a newsroom [0] or when you have TV cameras in your nuclear facility [1]

[0] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32248779

[1] https://www.lancs.live/news/viewers-spot-sellafield-blunder-...

is it a good idea to use password managers built into web browsers? (vs using a password manager from some third party? bw/1p)

I don't think so, but since browsers offer this option it should be extremely stable.

I used Firefox's password manager for a long time but eventually switched to KeePass which is FOSS and not cloud based. It's much better than the browser builtin password managers.

I store the .kdbx file in Syncthing (== Dropbox) so it automagically syncs between all my computers and phones. Use the KeepassXC app on computers along with their browser plugins, and the KeepassDX app on Android (idk about iOS).

One advantage of this is that the passwords work across all browsers. If you use FF's password manager, you only get passwords available in Firefox; but with Keepass they work in FF & Chrome & for native android apps & etc. And with the browser plugins it works about as well as the browser's native password managers. It also has support for TOTP 2 factor authentication.

Also I can easily make a copy of the .kdbx file (literally just ctrl-c ctrl-v the file) to save archives of my password db. (That said, over years of having the database open across multiple devices and editing it while open on multiple devices, it's never gotten corrupted)

Similar workflow here. On iOS I use Keepassium, which can access files on Dropbox, so it can read and write to the master password file there, which then propagates to the other machines with Dropbox installed.

I use BitWarden pretty good

They recently updated the Firefox extension with very good UX improvements!

It's definitely suboptimal.

I don't know, but I use an admittedly clunky setup using Password Safe and my own NextCloud server just to be sure I have complete control.

Whatever password manager you use I would consider browser integration critical. This is because it will check the domain for you and prevent phishing attacks that may work if you need to copy+paste your password. The fact that the password doesn't auto-fill is a huge red flag that interrupts your regular workflow and requires an unusual manual action to be phished.

But whether that is an in-browser password manager or a third-party manager with browser-integration (usually via an extension) probably doesn't matter much.

Sure, why not?

> this kind of loss should not be happening

It should not, but you probably should also not be keeping your passwords (only) there, encrypted or no.

This just happened to me too. Checked my linux machine and they were there. Backed em up.

What the heck

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