How do you handle your passwords?
How do you handle your passwords?
I rely on Bitwarden (slooowly migrating from... a spreadsheet...) and am thinking of keeping a master backup to be SyncThing-synchronized across all my devices, but I'm not sure of how to secure the SyncThing-synchronized files' local access if any one of my Windows or Android units got stolen and somehow cracked into or something. I'm curious about how others handle theirs. Thanks in advance for sharing!
keepassxc database synced with syncthing across devices
This is the way
This is the way OP. Centralised services are just too much a target for bad actors.
You already have syncthing so most of the way there.
Also built in TOTP / 2fa is pretty great.
Also built in TOTP / 2fa is pretty great.
I can't wrap my head around how this is a good idea. Isn't the idea of mfa to protect against password theft? If your second factor is stored with your password, how does that help anything? Honest question, I see this everywhere but can't figure out why it's acceptable with security-minded folks
Bitwarden already stores a local copy on all devices you have it installed. Just make sure you load up those devices from time to time... And guess what, you are probaly already doing that with your phone and laptop (which actually contains generally 2 copies, 1 on your actual client and another for the browser extension. Add a third device for good measure and... Oh, you also have a backup on bitwarden.com, this thing literally backups itself everywhere!
if any one of my Windows or Android units got stolen and somehow cracked into or something.
This shouldn't be a concern if you're using disk encryption and secure passwords, which is generally the default behaviour on most systems these days.
On Android, you don't need to worry about anything as long as you've got a pin/password configured, as disk encryption has been enabled by default for like a decade now.
On Windows, if you're on the Pro/Enterprise edition, you can use Bitlocker, but if you're on Home, you can use "device encryption" (which is like a lightweight Bitlocker) - but that requires a TPM chip and your Windows user account linked to a Microsoft account. If that is not an option, you could use VeraCrypt instead, which is an opensource disk encryption tool. Another option, if you're on a laptop, could be Opal encryption (aka TCG Opal SED), assuming your drive/BIOS supports it.
TL;DR: Encrypt yo' shit, and you don't need to worry about your data if your device gets stolen.
For years I've been using KeepassXC on desktop and Keepass2Android on mobile. Rather than sync the kdbx file between my devices, I have each device access it through the network. Either via sftp, smb, or nfs, but regardless I need to connect to my home's VPN to access it when away from home since I don't directly expose those things to the outside world.
I used to also keep a second copy of the website-tied passwords in Firefox Sync, but recently tried migrating that to Proton Pass because I thought the PIN feature might help, then ultimately decided to move away from that too and start using the KeepassXC-Browser plugin instead. I considered Bitwarden too but haven't tried it out yet, was somewhat deterred by seeing people say its UI seems very outdated.
It didn't look outdated to me, but is kind of weird and hard to get used to, though I eventually did. I don't know how to make an export from Bitwarden to take into KeePassXC, though... I'll need to look into this. Perhaps it can't be done from the browser alone. Anyway, thanks for sharing.
Is syncing the .kbdx files using Syncthing unsafe?
Syncing files that you may open in both (or more) devices at the same time is unsafe with any service, but you can manage to avoid sync conflicts with KeePass if you do not open the same file at the same time or open the Android app in read-only mode. I've only had like 3-4 conflict files this year and they weren't important.
Im not sure if that’s what you mean but I just export the Bitwarden database in an encrypted json and have it backed up in cloud. I’m not sure why you need the backup synced with all devices tho
I guess it's in cases when I may not be able to use Bitwarden, but... I suppose it can be used everywhere! Clearly, I'm new to this thing, so that's good to know!
Oh, that changes things. So, Bitwarden can be used basically anywhere, as you said. Just log in and there you are. It’s even a website. They’re servers would have to die for it to be a problem. But that’s not a real problem actually as the app keeps a local copy on the device and every time you open the app, it syncs with their servers and updates the vault (database). So the devices are synced by default really. If you want to back it up anyway, there is a „export vault” button which you can use. If you choose with encryption it’s going to be encrypted with the master password I think :)
PS Bitwarden (company) stores only the encrypted version on their servers so that’s not an issue either
Bitwarden. I would like to self host it one day (and keep that backed up) once I learn more about all that junk
I write them on paper just because I'm very old schooled.
My wife does the same, and I can't tell you how many times a day I have to help her reset passwords, figure out if something is an "1", "i", "l", or "|", or decide what needed to be capitalized.
Even though I have Bitwarden installed for her, she just "prefers" paper like some people prefer to stub their toes.
You should try to teach her how to be more careful and clear when writing passwords. It can be hard if she's living in constant rush but it's a very useful skill. And btw I just always underline capital letters. Always works
Do you stick them under your keyboard, or to the edge of your monitor?
Important ones under the keyboard, passwords 101
Nope, I try to store all of them in one physical file
Bitwarden has an import tool. You should be able to convert your spreadsheet into the format they like and import relatively easily.
For backups, you can create encrypted backups through bitwarden. So it shouldn't matter if synching itself is a secure process as what your syncing is already encrypted.
Bitwarden keeps a local copy of the data that can exported if something ever happened to bitwarden. If you want to keep an encrypted backup you can export the CSV and store it on an encrypted drive as a backup but not big worry about syncing it to all devices
This is the correct answer, every device you use a bitwarden-client regularly on automatically becomes a backup
KeePass on my phone and desktop, with the master file sync'd automatically to the server in my basement.
I prefer another tactic if I may share:
- Database in production: let Bitwarden clients sync the native way Bitwarden offers.
- Database in backup: let a dedicated backup service keep your database save.
I dont know if this could be done automatic (just backup the production database) or if this has to be done by export (by hand once in a while).
Doesnt matter from which device the backup originates because the native sync will keep them all the same usually in seconds.
Reset every time I need to log in
Pass on Linux with a private git repo with search extensions for gnome and Firefox, and android password store on my phone.
I have encryption enabled on my devices. If they get stolen, a casual thief isn't going to be able to break it. At most they'll wipe it, but they'll probably just fence it as-is or for parts.
I've set up Vaultwarden as I used Bitwarden before that and it made switching very easy. Doesn't get easier than that, synced passwords across all your devices/browsers.
I mostly just use Firefox Sync. For critical passwords or non-web passwords and other small keys I store them in pass.
I'm using https://pwsafe.org/ in Linux, then https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jefftharris.passwdsafe in android and this app to sync with google drive https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jefftharris.passwdsafe.sync&hl=en_US
I was using Bitwarden up until I moved my email service to Proton. Now, I just use all their things, but I didn't have any issues with Bitwarden personal. I do have some issues with their organization accounts though.
I do have some issues with their organization accounts though.
Like what? And is Proton Pass open-source?
Just management things, they don't do nested permissions, removed the ability to have groups auto added to collections and the desktop app has been broken for creating new entries in an organization because it can't for some reason it can't see collections, but that's something that broke in an update and they just haven't fixed for a few versions.
Proton Pass. If you're comfortable with cloud E2EE managers, it's far more worth it than Bitwarden, since you get unlimited email aliases. Better for privacy and even security. Plus, I trust Proton, they have a phenomenal track record in terms of security and encryption.
they have a phenomenal track record in terms of security
I read that they have bowed to email subpoenas in the past.
Every company would. They're not going to go out of business over one customer. What's important is that they weren't able to give any important information.
I'm agnostic about password managers, and I'm agnostic about sync'ing password repositories between devices. I believe there would be grave risks of losing access to my own repositories by misplacing their pass-phrases or bungling other kinds of authentication. I try not to put anything on portable devices that is super confidential. On the other hand, I restrict physical access to my desktop computer. I back it up continually, power it from an uninterruptible power supply, and run only a handful of server-side processes there. ... so I feel safe ... sort of.
I suppose it may seem heretical to members of this community, but I put all my passwords in a plain-text *.csv file on my desktop machine that I maintain with my own python script.
passwords.txton a full-disk encryption HDD.I don't really understand why passwords are so hard. Take two words that have meaning to you. Two number sequences that are important. Then lastly decide on two symbols. That's eight different passwords if you use one of each in that order, more if you want to mix the order. Now set rules to each. One word for personal one for business. One number set for fun the other for essential. The symbols are rather arbitrary but I try and stick with one for passwords I'm forced to make the other for passwords and logins I'm wanting to make. Obviously make unique passwords for any important stuff like baking and such but with this method I can log into accounts over ten years old within the first two tries. Usually it's the user name or tag that gives me the real trouble.
You entire system could be compromised quite quickly if someone figures out the pattern. It's also susceptible to hybrid attacks.
Or just generate a random series of 5 words (through bitwarden) separated by the character of your choice and have a much better password that's relatively easy to memorize.
This might have been acceptable 20 years ago but it's not a strong enough policy today. Data theft happens all the time and it's in the interests of a company who's security has been breached to not tell you that your data has been taken. You should assume that at anytime someone has several examples of your login credentials, not just one. You should use a password manager that isn't Chrome, Firefox, Safari, ect.