Chat with an IT friend made me rethink my password manager habits

I was talking to my buddy Mark who works in network security, and he said he never stores his master password anywhere, not even a hint. That hit different because I've been keeping mine in a notes app on my phone for years. He told me if my phone got compromised, that notes app is the first place a hacker would look. So I deleted that note and started using a physical backup code in my safe instead. Has anyone else rethought how they store their master password after talking to someone in the field?

2 comments

2 Comments

claire_butler11mo ago

Your mate Mark is being a bit dramatic. The odds of someone breaking into your phone AND specifically targeting your notes app are pretty low unless you're a high profile target. I keep my master password in a password protected document on my computer with a different password than anything else. If you lose that physical backup code in your safe, you're locked out forever with no way to recover your accounts. I'd rather have a digital copy that I can get to in an emergency than trust a piece of paper that could burn up in a fire. Plus, most hackers are after easy targets like reused passwords they can buy off a data breach list, not digging through someone's phone notes.

blairj551mo ago

Paper in a fire is a REAL concern. I had a buddy lose his whole crypto wallet that way, backup codes and all. Now I keep a photocopy of my master password in a waterproof safe at my folks' house and another in a bank deposit box. Digital copies on a USB drive tucked in that safe too, but encrypted with a different password. The thing with password managers is you need to treat the recovery process like a backup of your backup.