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Writing down your passwords is not about forgetting your passwords and needing the written page at all times. It's about having a backup that is behind lock and
by VonGuard 10y ago
Writing down your passwords is not about forgetting your passwords and needing the written page at all times. It's about having a backup that is behind lock and key (your front door). It's about "oh, shit, what's my login for this meaningless site I use once a quarter?" And it's about your spouse being able to get into those things if you die.
- teach 10y agoThis 100%. I keep a printed QR code in my wallet encoding my password manager's master password. Just in case.
- nathancahill 10y ago> behind lock and key Uhhh..
- teach 10y agoI'm not in a high risk group for wallet compromise. I'm over forty and have never lost my wallet or keys even once my whole life. I have many flaws, but misplacing small valuables isn't one of them.
- Humdeee 10y agoI don't know... My house has never been broken into in my life, but it doesn't mean I don't lock my door at night or when I go to work.
- teach 10y agoFair point, but I consider my house being broken into a couple of orders of magnitude more likely than my wallet being compromised. Plus, leaving my house unlocked has no utility, whereas having a scannable copy of my master password with me at all times does. Finally, the consequences of my house getting broken into are pretty bad. But even if I did lose my wallet it's virtually certain to be someone that knows nothing about password managers, and changing my master password is pretty easy.
- IncRnd 10y agoThe technical term is KEK, Key Encryption Key.
- dublinben 10y agoIt would probably be better to include this backup code in your will or some other paperwork filed with your lawyer. Your wallet can be stolen pretty easily.
- teach 10y agoI'm forty-two. I've never so much as lost a wallet, much less had it stolen. Plus I use it once a month or so when my password manager app on my phone gets logged out and I don't feel like pecking it into the virtual keyboard.
- movedx 10y agoYou should still have a will anyway, and included in it your digital key to your digital life.
- mtgx 10y agoKeeping it in your wallet sounds like a bad idea, for many different reasons.
- teach 10y agoIt's a risk, but it's extremely tiny. I have the password memorized, but it's long enough and complex enough that I can't always type it correctly, especially on a phone. Being able to scan it when needed allows me to use a password manager for all my other passwords and keeps me using a complex-enough master password. It's the same argument as the article, just at one higher level of abstraction.