Switched my mind about password managers after seeing a coworker get hit

I was at a coffee shop downtown last Tuesday when a guy next to me got an alert on his phone that someone logged into his bank from a different state. He started panicking and told me he used the same password for everything because he thought managers were "too complicated to set up." Has anyone else here avoided them for a long time and then something finally convinced you to try one?

3 comments

3 Comments

mark_ward7d ago

Man that's rough... I actually never thought about it until someone pointed out that if you use the same password everywhere, you're basically giving a stranger the keys to your email, and from there they can reset every single account you own. I avoided managers for years because I thought they were just for tech nerds, but what finally got me was realizing how many old forum accounts I had from 2008 with my same old password still sitting there. Some of those sites went under or got sold, and who knows who has those databases now. So it's not just about your bank or email, it's about that random gardening forum you signed up for a decade ago that's now run by some sketchy company.

the_jamie7d ago

Bro, that same password thing is basically handing hackers a skeleton key to your whole life. Once I realized how many sites I wasn't even thinking about were tied to my email, it was a no-brainer.

karencampbell7d ago

Actually @mark_ward you're right about the bank stuff being a big deal, but Jamie hit it - that gardening forum example is what got me too. I had an old cooking site account from 2009 that I forgot about until I saw a data breach alert.