The single conversation that made me stop using the same password everywhere

I used to think password managers were just another subscription to pay for, you know? Then about 6 months ago at a coffee shop in Austin, I was sitting next to some IT guy who was explaining to his friend how his company got completely locked out of their systems because someone used the same password for their work email and a random gaming forum that got hacked. He said the hackers just tried that email and password combo on everything and got into their payroll software. That story stuck with me because it was so specific and simple. I went home that night and finally set up Bitwarden, which is free anyway. Now I have like 40 different passwords and I don't even know them, but that's fine. Has anyone else had a real life story like this convince you to change something?

3 comments

3 Comments

perry.jesse10d ago

Yeah, that's a real wake up call. I switched after hearing a similar story and never looked back.

scott.alex10d agoTop Commenter

Oh dude, I gotta say though, it's not really a "switch" thing for most people. Some of us never had the option to leave in the first place, you know? Like I tried a couple years back and the coverage out here was just garbage so I had to crawl back.

rowan_ross9d ago

Has anyone else just had to really hustle to find the right plan for their area, though? I was in the same spot where I thought I was stuck forever, but I ended up calling around and asking neighbors what they used (which felt weird, but it worked). For me, it came down to finding a smaller regional carrier that nobody talks about, and they actually had decent service where the big guys didn't. It took a few months of trial and error (and some bad service in between), but it was totally worth it to finally have something reliable.