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> You can't get more security by trusting more intermediaries with your passwords. I would agree, were it not for the fact that every worthwhile password manag
by jfrunyon 6y ago
> You can't get more security by trusting more intermediaries with your passwords.
I would agree, were it not for the fact that every worthwhile password manager never sends your passwords to any intermediary. There is of course some risk related to the strength of the encryption, software updates/supply chain attacks, client backdoors, etc; however, in most scenarios that is far outweighed by the additional security on a "link in the chain" which is much more likely to be attacked (better credentials - higher entropy, better rotation, and so on).
> The more entities have access to your passwords, the less secure you are. I can't believe I even have to say it, it seems so obvious.
You're right, it is obvious, that's why those entities don't have access to them!
> Why not just remember your passwords? There is an infinite number of strategies and secret rules which you can use to easily remember your passwords.
That is incredibly low entropy. This will likely prevent you from falling victim to a simple dictionary or credential-stuffing attack, but not much else.
> Or for low-importance services, why not just use your browser's built-in password manager? You have to trust the browser maker anyway.
Well, that IS a password manager. And as to why not use it, because in an enterprise environment you should probably have automatic/encrypted/signed sharing, as well as logs of who accessed a password, who modified a password, etc.
By the way, I just want to point out that your "password manager" could be "rot13 and write it down in a notebook and put it in a locked cabinet". Or it could be "put it in a text file and GPG-encrypt it". There are plenty of options available which don't involve even trusting the code of any third-party.
- cryptica 6y ago>> every worthwhile password manager never sends your passwords to any intermediary Except in cases where the password manager is 100% open source, the people who wrote the password manager are intermediaries. As I said, you need to trust an additional intermediary.
- jfrunyon 6y agoAnd as I said, a password manager can be a physical piece of paper that only you ever see. There is absolutely no need to trust an additional intermediary unless you choose a password manager which requires that. And additionally, you can choose exactly how much trust you put in the intermediary, because there are many password managers out there to choose from.