My brother told me to stop reusing my old password pattern and I'm glad I listened

For years, I used the same base password with a number and symbol tacked on for each site, like 'Treeguy78!' for everything. My brother, who works in IT, kept saying it was a bad idea, but I figured it was fine. Then, about two months ago, I got an alert that my info was in a breach from some old forum I signed up for. Because I used that pattern, I had to change passwords on over 20 accounts in one night. It took me three hours. Now I use a password manager and let it make random ones for me. Has anyone else had a close call that finally made them switch their password habits?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_casey12d ago

Honestly think you're overreacting. That pattern system is basically fine. Most people will never get hacked. Changing twenty passwords once is not a big deal compared to the hassle of a password manager. Those things can fail or get locked. Then you're totally screwed. I'd rather trust my own simple system I can remember.

the_nina11d ago

That's a wild way to live, honestly.