Switched from random passwords to a manager after getting locked out of my bank

I used to just use the same couple passwords for everything, figured it was fine. Then last year I got locked out of my Bank of America account after too many wrong tries and had to spend 45 minutes on the phone fixing it. Now I use Bitwarden and let it generate long random passwords for each site. Has anyone else had a close call that finally pushed them to change their password habits?

3 comments

3 Comments

taylor_wells8d ago

You ever have one of those friends who thinks theyre too smart to get hacked? My buddy Dave was like that, used the same password for everything including his email and PayPal. One day he gets a text from his sister asking why he sent her a weird link about some concert tickets. He ignored it, figured she was confused. Then his bank called him because someone had drained his checking account buying gift cards. Turns out a site he used for gaming forums got breached, and since he reused passwords everywhere, they got into his email and just reset everything. He spent weeks dealing with the bank and changing all his accounts. Now he won't shut up about password managers and tries to lecture everyone at parties about it.

the_faith8d ago

Funny enough I had the same thing happen to me a few years back, switched to a password manager after that and it saved me a ton of headache. Now I'm that guy who bugs people about it but better safe than sorry right?

sandragrant8d ago

My cousin lost access to his entire Steam library four years ago because his dog's name was the password for everything. @the_faith I've been using a password manager since then too, and it's annoying when people act like you're overreacting until their accounts get cleaned out. A buddy of mine still keeps his passwords on sticky notes under his keyboard, and I just cringe every time I see it.