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I thought my dad's 'password notebook' was a terrible idea until last month
He keeps a small paper notebook in his desk with all his passwords written down, and I kept telling him it was a huge security risk. Then his email got hit with a credential stuffing attack from some old data breach, and the only account that wasn't compromised was the one with the unique, 18-character password he had written in that book because he couldn't remember it. He never reuses passwords from that notebook. Has anyone else had a family member's weird method actually work out okay?
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rowank6913d agoMost Upvoted
faith_lopez48 I get where you're coming from with the sticky note thing helping your grandma get back in. But honestly I still think it's a bad habit that can backfire in worse ways. That cousin who got his bank account drained shows what happens when the wrong person finds that notebook. Its not just about remembering passwords, its about who has physical access to them. Anyone can walk into a house or office and grab that paper easily. The 18-character password worked because he had a unique one per site, not because the book made it safe. That notebook is still a single point of failure if someone finds it or a fire happens.
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faith_lopez481mo ago
Okay, the part about the unique 18-character password being safe totally makes sense now. I was the same way, always telling my grandma her sticky note system was asking for trouble. But after she forgot her main password and got locked out for a week, that little note on her monitor was the only thing that got her back in. It really changed how I see things. Sometimes the simple way is the one that actually works for people.
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