c/cybersecurity-tips

My dad swore by sticky notes for passwords, then I found his desk

He told me to write everything down on paper and hide it, so I did. Found 47 passwords taped under his keyboard at a coffee shop in Denver. Has anyone else had a family member give them terrible security advice that backfired?

2 comments

jakel36•1d ago

Got tricked by a fake 'Google' support call last Tuesday

I was working from my home office and got a call from someone claiming to be from Google saying my account had been compromised. They had me open a terminal and type some commands before I realized it was a scam and hung up. Has anyone else had scammers spoof Google's number like that, and what's the best way to verify if a call is real?

2 comments

lopez.simon•2d ago

Why does nobody talk about password managers getting hacked?

Had a conversation with my neighbor last weekend, he's a retired IT guy from the school district. He told me he still uses the same password for everything because he read about a password manager getting breached back in 2022. I argued with him for a bit, but then I started thinking about it. If one of those services gets cracked, suddenly every account you own is exposed. I know the convenience is huge, but how do you folks deal with that single point of failure risk?

2 comments

hugoh55•18d ago

That one week I ran a full network audit without a password manager was a nightmare

My last week at a client site in Phoenix turned into 12-hour days after I found 40% of their 200+ devices still using the same default admin passwords from 2018, and the IT manager just shrugged when I showed him, has anyone else run into a company that refuses to update their credentials even after you prove they're vulnerable?

2 comments

terry_carter15•21d ago

That fake antivirus popup cost me 4 hours of my life

Last Wednesday I was working on a spreadsheet for inventory when a full screen alert popped up saying my computer was infected. It looked exactly like a Windows security warning, complete with a phone number to call. I panicked for a good 10 minutes before I realized the browser was just showing a full screen ad. By the time I figured out how to force close it and run a real scan, I had wasted almost half my work day. Has anyone else had these fake alerts trick them for longer than they'd like to admit?

2 comments

dianal94•21d ago

Tried a password manager everyone raves about, got locked out for 3 days

I went with Bitwarden after hearing nothing but good things from this community. Set it up on my phone and PC, felt good for about a week. Then the master password failed twice and locked me out completely for 72 hours, no way to reset without losing everything. Has anyone else had a similar wall with a "secure" tool that left you stranded?

2 comments

pat_coleman•23d ago

Just realized I was reusing passwords for years without thinking twice

It hit me last Tuesday when I got a notification from Have I Been Pwned that my email was in a data breach from a site I used back in 2018. I panicked and started checking accounts, and that's when I noticed I'd been using the same password for my email, my bank, and my Netflix account since like 2016. I always thought 'it's fine, nobody's gonna target me specifically' but seeing that breach list made me feel pretty dumb. The thing that tipped me off was how fast that one password could get me into almost everything. I spent the next three hours changing passwords and setting up a password manager. Has anyone else had that sinking feeling when you realize how many accounts share the same login?

c/cybersecurity-tips

My dad swore by sticky notes for passwords, then I found his desk

Got tricked by a fake 'Google' support call last Tuesday

Why does nobody talk about password managers getting hacked?

That one week I ran a full network audit without a password manager was a nightmare

That fake antivirus popup cost me 4 hours of my life

Tried a password manager everyone raves about, got locked out for 3 days

Just realized I was reusing passwords for years without thinking twice

PSA: That free VPN I was using was selling my browsing data

Shoutout to the guy who got phished at a truck stop WiFi in Wyoming

Hit 1,000 blocked login attempts on my Pi-hole after just 3 months

Just realized my VPN was slowing down my whole home network for months

Almost got phished bad while working remote at a coffee shop

My dad tried to "hack" my Netflix account by guessing my password 30 times

I finally get why people use password managers now

Debate: Is a password manager safer than writing passwords down in a notebook?

Appreciation post for 2FA after my own password got leaked in 2018

Appreciation post for hardware 2FA keys after my aunt got phished last month

My own email got spoofed and I almost fell for the scam

Hit 50% of my passwords showing in a data breach. Freaked me out.

I used to think password managers were overkill until I hit 87 saved logins

Was at the library in Spokane and saw a guy leave his laptop wide open on a table

Just realized my 'free' VPN cost me $300 in fraudulent charges

Showerthought: I read that most home routers have a default admin password that's never changed

I thought my friend was being paranoid about his email filters

Spotted a cafe in Denver with their wifi password taped to the register screen for everyone to see