Storing Passwords - A Close Call

[Err]

This thread is cautionary tale of what not to do with your passwords. This happened to me on 2008 and thought I'd finally share it with the world after being embarrassed about it for so long. It was only after I went digging through my old stuff that I found a printed copy of the email and it reminded me of this.

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Back in 2008 I used to go to college, and had my own website. I used my website for a lot of stuff. Music, pictures, school projects and files were the main things I used it for. It was nice since I didn't have to bring any flash/hard drives or computers to school since it was on my website and always available.

At the same time I was learning a lot about websites and certain tricks you can do to password protect folders on the website without coding; so I decided to give it a go since I had a few things I didn't want anyone getting into. My website wasn't listed on any search engines like google or yahoo since I used it as a online flash drive and thought it was pretty much impossible for anyone to actually find it.

Thinking that no one could find my website and much less the files I had in them, and the fact that I could password-protect an entire folder on the website, I thought it was pretty well hidden in some obscure corner of the internet. So, with this in mind, I thought anything I put in it was secure. (Now I know it's called "Security through obscurity").

On my personal computer, I kept a text file of all my username and passwords I used on different websites since I used many different ones and it was hard to keep track of them all. I would be in school sometimes when I needed a username/password for some school related work, a problem that needed a solution. That solution was of course was to put my passwords.txt file on my website under lock and key, the password-protected folder I had setup. 'Great!' I thought, 'Now I can access to my passwords.txt file from anywhere in the world!'.

Everything was fine for few months after that, until I got this one day:
http://i.imgur.com/oAmr4.jpg (Contains Mild Language)

What happened was that some guy found my passwords.txt file, he (pronoun assumed) drove over to my college and logged into a computer with my username and password, he then logged into my gmail account and sent me the above email.

I consider myself one very lucky person. One guy who found the jackpot but did the right thing and let me know what had happened. I couldn't believe this had happened to me, and much less believe that he did NOT take advantage of a sucker like me. I know I didn't deserve to get off like this, esp. after a very stupid move on my part. He could of easily ruined part of my life.

After the mind-numbing experience I immediately changed my passwords on EVERYTHING. I got off with a warning and I was not planning to push my chances by repeating my mistake again. I changed the way I worked with passwords after that day. Now I'm more careful, now I see the error of my ways.

[Sagepain]

....

Your extremely lucky indeed! I would have had a heart attack before I finished reading the Email message that you recieved.

Luckily I don't have many accounts and don't feel the need to record passwords that I might not remember.

Thanks for posting this story.

[Souret]

Wow your so lucky that person wasn't a jerk.
I just remember my passwords.

[Vornmusion]

This is why most modern password managers shifted to storing (and encrypting, for all the good it'll do) locally on the users HD instead of on their own. Just have to keep people off your computer.

[Shikamaru Nara]

I write them all down and put them in a safe.

[Kakashi Hatake_Yamato]

wow scary


and speaking of passwords...............i forgot the password to my wifi................

[Saiyan]

Dude that guy is f'ing crazy

who makes an email at a college they don't go to at a computer they don't have access too in a city they don't live in

what does he have to hide to go through all of that after his good samirtan deed

I think he already made out with the jackpot and you just don't know it yet...

[Sagepain]

Originally Posted by Kakashi Hatake_Daphne Lu

wow scary


and speaking of passwords...............i forgot the password to my wifi................

Not a big deal, if your on a laptop just go into your wireless connection list and right click on your wifi. Then click properties, from the window that appears just check the box for "show characters".

[Kakashi Hatake_Yamato]

ah. Cool

[Err]

Originally Posted by Saiyan

Dude that guy is f'ing crazy

who makes an email at a college they don't go to at a computer they don't have access too in a city they don't live in

what does he have to hide to go through all of that after his good samirtan deed

I think he already made out with the jackpot and you just don't know it yet...

I did find it strange that he went to those lengths to send me an email. Maybe he was just trying to prove a point, but I know nothing went missing. I would of noticed if something went missing. Whatever his way of thinking was, I'm thankful he didn't screw me over.

[Wooster]

That must be the nicest guy in the world.

That's the problem with passwords; if they are strong enough, there is no possible way to remember them all. Guess I am glad I live alone that at least gives me some ways of storage.

[Sephiroth]

People just dont get its pretty easy for someone to get your information, passwords etc.

[Kyūbi no Yōko]

There is a Google Chrome add-on that stores your password in a vault that is also guarded by a password.

It's called LastPass, I use this so I can autofill an account, it basically fills both the e-mail box and the password box.

It's a cool tool.

[Shikamaru Nara]

I wouldn't be too sure that using the internet, even if it is a liable source for storage, is a good idea. Storing anything important on a server is bad news.

[Kyūbi no Yōko]

Such invasion of privacy would have the company pay for the damages, so I'm not worried.

[joon61]

There are good people in the world,remember that.

[Naruto]

http://howsecureismypassword.net/

Check this website out to see how safe your password is.

[sasu_girl]

Originally Posted by Naruto

http://howsecureismypassword.net/

Check this website out to see how safe your password is.

Mine is 25,000 years. ._.

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Good story. I never keep them out. I just remember them somehow... ._.

[Cupcake]

I have all my passwords written in a little diary with a lock.

[Red]

I have them all in my head. They're not really complicated, but I mean, it's not like anyone would ever guess them. They're pretty random and have nothing to do with anything.