• just another dev@lemmy.my-box.dev
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    2 months ago

    I guess now is as good a time as any for them to start using a proper password manager.

    Personally, I recommend Keepass - it has multiple clients for all platforms, and you can keep the file in sync with a program of your own choosing, like Dropbox, syncthing or whatever you like.

    • GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml
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      2 months ago

      Bitwarden is probably a more pragmatic choice for most users, given that it’s free and without having to manage the syncing yourself.

      Any password manager is better than the alternative, though.

      • 🅿🅸🆇🅴🅻@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        I’m not sure what you’re comparing it to. Keepass is free too, in fact it’s open source. In my opinion, local software and database that is under your control is always superior to cloud.

        Keepass over Bitwarden offers a lot of plugins and integrations, again, if you want more customization or automation.

        But, I would say you can use any online password manager as long as it’s end to end encrypted, so Bitwarden is a good choice.

        • evulhotdog@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          I think your bias may be showing. The average computer user doesn’t even think about using a password manager. It just exists and works in their browser.

        • GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml
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          2 months ago

          Also, local software and database is always superior to cloud.

          Now there’s an unfounded blanket statement if I ever saw one.

          • Enoril@jlai.lu
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            2 months ago

            Statement related to previous cloud hacks i assume.

            Should have say: self-hosting is always superior to cloud hosting.

            Bitwarden (the client) + Vaultwarden (the self-hosted server) is a good combo if you have some knowledge on how to setup it.

            • GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml
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              2 months ago

              Should have say: self-hosting is always superior to cloud hosting.

              That statement still comes with a pretty damn big caveat though - you need to have the know-how, the time to invest and the hardware (i.e money) to actually set something like this up.

              If all of those are true, then self-hosting can definitely be an attractive option for you.

              It’s only true for a vanishingly small fraction of the population, though.

              Hence, Bitwarden is a pragmatic solution that will be superior for the vast majority of the population.

        • fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com
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          2 months ago

          No dislike for Keepass here, but I prefer Bitwarden. It’s also super easy to self host with Vaultwarden.

    • Wistful
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      2 months ago

      Keepass XC on PC, Keepass DX on Android, Syncthing to sync database

      Works flawlessly!

      • NekuSoul@lemmy.nekusoul.de
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        2 months ago

        Most amazingly, this setup is also unexpectedly resilient against merge conflicts and can sync even when two copies have changed. You wouldn’t expect that from tools relying on 3rd party file syncing.

        I still try to avoid it, but every time it accidentally happened, I could just merge the changes automatically without losing data.

        • Shatur@lemmy.ml
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          2 months ago

          How did you enable merge conflict resolution for KeePassXC databases?

          • NekuSoul@lemmy.nekusoul.de
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            2 months ago

            Depends a bit on the clients.

            • KeePass: Will ask you if you want to synchronize/overwrite/discard the database when saving.
            • KeePassXC: Will autoreload the database in the background, so merge conflicts shouldn’t happen in the first place. Otherwise there’s ‘Merge database’ in the menu.
            • KeePass2Android: So I mixed up the names and this is the client I actually use. This one does all changes to an internal copy of the database that is then synchronized on request.
            • KeePassDX: As far as I can see it also has a mechanism similar too KeePass2Android.

            Assuming you only have one desktop and mobile client you should never run into any issues. If you do have multiple KeePassXC clients it’s all fine as well assuming Syncthing always has another client it can sync with.

      • OfficerBribe@lemm.ee
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        2 months ago

        I store my DB in Dropbox and use KeePass2Android on phone which has built in Dropbox sync.

      • GoJimi@lemm.ee
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        2 months ago

        Exactly! Self hosted FTW. Chances of a data breach… Typically pretty minor if you are smart.

        • Pennomi@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Chances of losing the data is higher with selfhosting too. Unless you’re doing some sort of multizone replication, or course.

          • nialv7@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            I use syncthing so there’s a copy of my password database on each of my devices.

          • communism@lemmy.ml
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            2 months ago

            I would rather lose my passwords than have my password database be accessed by someone else. Most websites have a “forgot password” function, and for passwords that don’t have that (e.g. to decrypt my hard drive or log into my computer) I’ve memorised the passphrase and always type it manually anyway. And for passwords where neither applies, it’s probably not a huge loss anyway if I’ve not prepared for the possibility of losing my password db for that particular password.

          • GoJimi@lemm.ee
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            2 months ago

            Yeah. Daily and weekly cloud backups solve that for myself for sure.

          • Lem453@lemmy.ca
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            2 months ago

            Borg backup to borgbase is not very expensive and borg will encrypt the data plus the vault is also encrypted

          • The Pantser@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            I am hosting on Home Assistant which itself gets a backup to my Google drive and my personal machine. So there are two backups, as long as HA doesn’t create a corrupted backup 3 weeks in a row I am good.

          • Russ@bitforged.space
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            2 months ago

            As long as you’re still signed into BW from any of your devices, you can always export the vault from there.

            (But yes, actual backups are always a plus)

        • Lem453@lemmy.ca
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          2 months ago

          Keep vaultwarden behind wireguard for local only access then also use https certs and good master password. Very secure like this

            • Lem453@lemmy.ca
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              2 months ago

              Security in layers.

              All your services should be using https. Vaultwarden in particular won’t even run without https unless you bypass a bunch of security measures.

              This is how to setup local only and external https, I highly recommend this as a baseline setup for every homelab. It allows you to choose how much security you want on a per app basis and makes adding new apps trivially easy.

              https://youtu.be/liV3c9m_OX8?si=TSWXoN_8SJDpAHaW

      • N1ghtstalk3r@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        +1 for a self-hosted Vaultwarden instance. If you’re technically capable and have extra hardware laying around this is the best way to go.

      • just another dev@lemmy.my-box.dev
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        2 months ago

        If you never, ever need your passwords outside of your home, that’s great advice - it’s as secure as can be against digital theft. Less so against fire though, and backups are out of the question.

        • Shdwdrgn@mander.xyz
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          2 months ago

          I just store all my passwords in robots.txt on my web server, makes it easy for me to access them anywhere I go…

          /s

        • thejoker954@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Backups are easy? Just copy to another piece of paper and store somewhere else.

          I’m just being facetious though.

          • just another dev@lemmy.my-box.dev
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            2 months ago

            I’m not being facetious though. Off-site backups of a digital password collection are easy to setup and maintain. But when you change your password or add a new entry, it’s going to be a pain in the ass to have to drive over and update a physical copy.

            If you can live with those downsides, that’s fine. But in my opinion it would be facetious to pretend a physical backup is “just as good/usable” as a digital one.

            -edit: whoops, misread that as implying that I was being facetious. As you were sir -

        • aname@lemmy.one
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          2 months ago

          I have a firesafe at home for important papers, passports and some emergency cash. I keep my passwords there.

        • nous@programming.dev
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          2 months ago

          You can have backups of physical books. Just copy the text from one to the other. Yeah it is manual work but so is writing the first one in the first place. You can then store the second copy in a fire resistant safe or at a friends or family members house (maybe inside a safe as well).

        • tabular@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Well you can write a copy and keep it in a shed if it’s unlikely to also catch fire.

      • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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        2 months ago

        This is the first suggestion here that’s actually within the technical abilities of most people, even most Lemmy users.

        The level of technical knowledge some of people here seem to think the general public has is absurd.

        • tabular@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          I’m usually the one promoting technical literacy to all but in this case I honestly don’t use a password manager.

          • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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            2 months ago

            It’s honestly seemed like more trouble than it’s worth, there’s a few websites where I just reset my password every time.

            • Hexarei@programming.dev
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              2 months ago

              The thing that makes it worth it to me is long, randomly generated passwords that I don’t have to know.

              None of the sites and services I use require me to type out a password thanks to browser integration and auto type (for desktop apps and such), along with autofill service on android.

              Then along with that I can even store other things like account recovery codes (for 2fa) or security questions (which also get randomly generated answers)… It’s a handy thing to have IMHO

        • just another dev@lemmy.my-box.dev
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          2 months ago

          If getting a Dropbox account is too difficult for them, I seriously wonder why they’d be subscribed here, or reading articles about password management in browsers.

          • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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            2 months ago

            Because I’m interested in tech news, especially since the world we live in can’t function without it.

            Besides, Lemmy seems to seriously overestimate the technical abilities of, well, most people.

    • suction@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Never trust your credentials to a private company, they could be bought out by state actors.

      • Katana314@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Never trust your credentials to yourself, you can be bought out by beer, poor decisions, and tripping over the cables connected to your home server you cobbled together.

      • CosmicGiraffe@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        The xz compromise having demonstrated that FOSS projects are totally immune to interference from state actors…

  • Pissipissini Johnson 🩵! :D@sh.itjust.works
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    2 months ago

    I put all my passwords in a text document, then print it on a little strip of paper and shove it up my ass. Whenever I take a crap, I dig it out from the turds and try to memorise some of them again. Then I shove it back up there where noone else can find my data and I won’t lose it.

  • daddy32@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    “Chrome users” or “Chrome under windows users” would be closer to the truth. Still, quite a screw up.

    • DreamButt@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Something like 2/3rds of the world uses chrome for desktop. I’d bet that number is higher for windows specifically. If you’re the rare person who doesn’t use chrome then you’re savy enough to know this doesn’t apply to you

  • rekabis@lemmy.ca
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    2 months ago

    No-one should be using any password manager built into any browser, neither Chromium-based nor Firefox-based. Browser password databases are almost trivially easy for malware to harvest.

    Go with something external, BitWarden or 1Password, or if you are entirely within the Apple ecosystem their new password system built into iOS 18 is apparently really good.

    • dan@upvote.au
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      2 months ago

      Go with something external, BitWarden or 1Password,

      When it comes to security software, I usually recommend sticking to open-source solutions, which is why I’d recommend Bitwarden over 1Password. Their whole stack (backend, frontend, and native apps) is all open-source. A premium account is well worth the $10/year.

      You can self-host their server, or self-host Vaultwarden which is an unofficial API-compatible reimplementation of the Bitwarden backend designed to be lighter weight. Note that Vaultwarden is unofficial and hasn’t gone through the same security audits as Bitwarden has. It’s a good piece of software though.

      • rekabis@lemmy.ca
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        2 months ago

        Use ButWarden myself for a login-only subset of my KeePass content. I absolutely recommend it every chance I get, but some people prefer 1Password because reasons. And 1Password is pretty much the best closed-source option out there, which is why I do so… anything to give people options that keep them away from clusterf**ks like LastPass.

        • JC1@lemmy.ca
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          2 months ago

          I migrated from Bitwarden to 1password because I wanted something that works better on Linux. With 1password-cli and PAM integration mainly. Bitwarden worked beautifully under Windows, but once I switched over to Linux, I realised that 1password had more Linux friendly features. I track some discussions over bitwarden that talk about implementing those features, I might come back at some point.

        • dan@upvote.au
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          2 months ago

          Definitely true… Using 1Password is still better than reusing the same password for every site. I’ve never used it but it gets a lot of good feedback, especially from Mac users.