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I managed to get my mother to use a password manager. I did my due diligence in explaining the security aspects, as far as "well if someone gets your Facebook p

I managed to get my mother to use a password manager. I did my due diligence in explaining the security aspects, as far as "well if someone gets your Facebook password, how likely is that to be your Gmail password" , but mostly had to frame it as a convenience feature of being able to use all these complicated passwords without having to remember any of them.

seanwilson 11y ago
I've lost count of how often I've heard friends and family say things like "well there's nothing important in my computer/email/Facebook anyway". I try to explain about how hackers can use credentials to eventually get into their bank accounts, steal their identity, use their computer in botnet and spam schemes etc. but it usually comes across as farfetched for some reason. I'm sure it sinks in when they or someone they know is directly impacted by a hacker but I think the problem is this doesn't happen often enough.
- avian 11y ago
  I think the part that is hard to grasp for people without a technical background is the danger of automated attacks. It's hard to explain that even if nobody is interested specifically in their computer/email/Facebook, they can still be a victim of a dragnet kind of an effort.
  - seanwilson 11y ago
    Yeah, I struggle to think of any good analogy that would help explain the problem. You could explain HTTP as like sending a postal letter where an attacker can intercept and read the letter undetected, reply back as if they were the receiver etc . but that's already pretty abstract. Drawing a real-world analogy with automated password attacks seems even harder.
    - dsp1234 11y ago
      "There's a gang around here that like to walk up to every car in the parking lot and try every door. They aren't targeting you specifically, they just try every door knowing that some doors will be unlocked. So always lock your doors"

seanwilson 11y ago

I've lost count of how often I've heard friends and family say things like "well there's nothing important in my computer/email/Facebook anyway". I try to explain about how hackers can use credentials to eventually get into their bank accounts, steal their identity, use their computer in botnet and spam schemes etc. but it usually comes across as farfetched for some reason. I'm sure it sinks in when they or someone they know is directly impacted by a hacker but I think the problem is this doesn't happen often enough.

avian 11y ago
I think the part that is hard to grasp for people without a technical background is the danger of automated attacks. It's hard to explain that even if nobody is interested specifically in their computer/email/Facebook, they can still be a victim of a dragnet kind of an effort.
- seanwilson 11y ago
  Yeah, I struggle to think of any good analogy that would help explain the problem. You could explain HTTP as like sending a postal letter where an attacker can intercept and read the letter undetected, reply back as if they were the receiver etc . but that's already pretty abstract. Drawing a real-world analogy with automated password attacks seems even harder.
  - dsp1234 11y ago
    "There's a gang around here that like to walk up to every car in the parking lot and try every door. They aren't targeting you specifically, they just try every door knowing that some doors will be unlocked. So always lock your doors"