My neighbor's 'password system' versus a real password manager

My neighbor told me his system was foolproof: he used his dog's name, Sparky, plus the year he bought his car, 2012, for every account. I showed him my Bitwarden vault and explained how one data breach at a small forum he joined in 2015 could now unlock his bank login. The difference was letting one tool handle unique, strong passwords versus trusting a pattern a human could guess. Anyone else have a friend with a 'system' that made you cringe?

2 comments

2 Comments

leoward1mo ago

That's the scary part, it's not even about guessing. Once one site gets hacked, that pattern is just sitting there in plain text for anyone to use. A password manager seems like extra work until you realize it's less work than fixing a drained bank account.

lilys811mo ago

I used to reuse the same password for everything, just changing a number at the end. After my old Yahoo account got popped, I finally switched to a manager. It was a real wake-up call.