TIL my password manager was the weak link all along, not my passwords

I got a random alert from my bank about a login from Chicago at 3am, but I live in Austin and I definitely wasn't awake. After panicking and checking my password manager, I realized the master password I'd been using since 2019 was literally the name of my first dog with a number on the end, and I'd never turned on two-factor for the vault itself. Anyone else ever trusted a tool more than they should and got burned, or am I the only one who overlooked the front door while locking every window?

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kellymurphy9d ago

Honestly that hit close to home because I did the same thing with my old password manager back in 2021. I had this super long random vault password but never turned on two factor because I figured the encryption was enough, then my phone died on a trip and I tried to log in from a library computer, that’s when I noticed the login history showed some random IP from overseas. Turns out I’d reused that master password for a forum account years earlier and someone got it from a data breach, they just hadn’t done anything yet. I freaked out, changed everything, and now I treat the vault like the most important lock in the house, not the passwords inside it. If you haven’t already, change that master password to something totally random and put two factor on right now, because that alert is basically a free warning shot.