chen.casey•19d agoProlific Poster

That $200 password manager I was sure was overhyped actually saved me from a ransomware attack last Friday.

I thought it was just a fancy way to store logins until a phishing link slipped through my defenses and the manager blocked it cold, has anyone else had a tool they mocked turn out to be a lifesaver?

3 comments

3 Comments

evaallen19d ago

Guess it depends on how you define "lifesaver." Blocking a phishing link is good and all but ransomware usually comes from downloads or exploits not login pages. Still, if it stopped you from typing your password into a fake site that's a win, but I wouldn't call it a lifesaver just yet. Feels like the real test is whether it catches something actually scary like a keylogger or a drive by download. Hope it holds up if something real ever hits.

casey_harris19d ago

So you're saying a phishing link isn't scary? That's exactly how ransomware crews get your creds to break in later.

-1

fox.derek1d ago

Phishing links are actually a huge deal for ransomware though. Most ransomware crews don't just guess your password, they use phishing to get a foothold, then drop the payload later. Like the DarkSide group that hit Colonial Pipeline, they got in through a compromised VPN password from a phishing email. So a phishing link blocker stopping someone from typing creds into a fake Office 365 login page can literally prevent a full network takeover down the line. Eva's right that downloads and exploits are scary too, but phishing is how a lot of those exploits get delivered in the first place. It's all connected.