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I found the Master Password app which uses a password generation algorithm to generate a different password for each site based on the sites name, the users name and a master password. It seems like a good idea to keep a different password in each site without the hassle to keep a password file synced.

However, I have the feeling that, security wise, this strategy has some drawbacks compared to password manager. Particularly it seems to me that each password is the same behind the scenes. Specifically, it seems that the only secret behind each password is the master key making each password effectively the same. Furthermore, it seems that the only way of changing one password (suppose one site is compromised) is changing the master key which, in turns, changes all the other passwords (again, it seems like there is only one real password).

My question is, how secure is this strategy compared to a password manager? Specifically, is this a good strategy in practice to store my passwords compared to a password manager? Is my intuition right and there is effectively only one password?

Anders
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jesm00
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1 Answers1

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Honestly I would say that writing passwords on a piece of paper is the best way of securing them

if you want to generate passwords, think of random sentences, (a password can include spaces)

ie:

pigs wag tails too

another way of generating good passwords is random text, over 7 characters long ^F*f*jk@Rj%j3

I created a password cracker, and those were the most difficult to guess

As to the master password system, if somebody gets your master password, you are done. Its like placing all of your eggs in one basket, and hoping you don't drop it

Personally I think password managers are very insecure on account of most being online/syncing with mobile devices. The big problem with password managers is that we could have the best passwords, but a hacker could automate hacking these companies/its customers.

liamnp
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  • you can use a password manager, but if you want to be more secure, do it yourself, or use a piece of paper – liamnp Feb 14 '17 at 15:54
  • Recommending manually creating random-looking passwords instead of using a vetted psuedo-random password generator is rather *anti*-security. Also, this doesn't really answer the question. – Xiong Chiamiov Feb 14 '17 at 23:08