Woke up to a phishing alert that made me realize I was using the same password for 8 years

I got a weird email from my bank last Tuesday about a login attempt from a device in Ohio. I don't live anywhere near Ohio... so I panicked and checked my password manager. Turns out I had the same password for my email, my PayPal, and like 5 other accounts since college. What finally tipped me off was the email had a typo in the bank's name but I still almost clicked it. Anyone else ever find out they were reusing passwords for way too long?

2 comments

2 Comments

black.amy15d ago

oh man i literally just went through this last month with my netflix password from 2016

roberts.jordan14d ago

Holding onto the same password for 8 years isnt a bad thing if its a good one. People act like reusing passwords is some huge sin but if your password is a long random string nobody is guessing it anyway. The real risk is from phishing and keyloggers, not someone cracking your actual password. Plus having one strong password you trust beats trying to remember 20 different ones and ending up with sticky notes on your monitor. Most of the data breaches happen because companies dont encrypt stuff right, not because of your password choice.