security advice, 1996: writing your passwords down in a notebook is a very bad idea and nobody should do it
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security advice, 1996: writing your passwords down in a notebook is a very bad idea and nobody should do it
security advice, 2026: writing your passwords down in a notebook is one of the most secure storage methods for most users
(fun how threat models change over time, eh?)
@gsuberland did you mean "writing your passwords down in notepad.exe"?
That's completely secure.
There will never be a CVE in notepad.exe. -
security advice, 1996: writing your passwords down in a notebook is a very bad idea and nobody should do it
security advice, 2026: writing your passwords down in a notebook is one of the most secure storage methods for most users
(fun how threat models change over time, eh?)
@gsuberland Writing them down and making each one unique and at least 10 characters long is very secure as long as you don’t misplace the list.
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security advice, 1996: writing your passwords down in a notebook is a very bad idea and nobody should do it
security advice, 2026: writing your passwords down in a notebook is one of the most secure storage methods for most users
(fun how threat models change over time, eh?)
Writing your passwords down in a physical paper notebook, also give your family a chance to access the family pictures and documents on your computers, when you are no longer able to yourself.
Everybody should make a digital "Testament" listing passwords, and who out in the world should be told about the sad news., because they will not see the death-notice in your local paper.
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security advice, 1996: writing your passwords down in a notebook is a very bad idea and nobody should do it
security advice, 2026: writing your passwords down in a notebook is one of the most secure storage methods for most users
(fun how threat models change over time, eh?)
@gsuberland just get a list of strings tattooed on to various points of your body and then you just have to remember which body part correlates to which online service.
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Writing your passwords down in a physical paper notebook, also give your family a chance to access the family pictures and documents on your computers, when you are no longer able to yourself.
Everybody should make a digital "Testament" listing passwords, and who out in the world should be told about the sad news., because they will not see the death-notice in your local paper.
@phloggen @gsuberland I've taken the digital testament a step further. My self hosted service will execute shell and send emails if I miss two weeks acknowledgements (sends keepassxc file and password to family among other actions)
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Writing your passwords down in a physical paper notebook, also give your family a chance to access the family pictures and documents on your computers, when you are no longer able to yourself.
Everybody should make a digital "Testament" listing passwords, and who out in the world should be told about the sad news., because they will not see the death-notice in your local paper.
If you need a handful reach out privately.
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security advice, 1996: writing your passwords down in a notebook is a very bad idea and nobody should do it
security advice, 2026: writing your passwords down in a notebook is one of the most secure storage methods for most users
(fun how threat models change over time, eh?)
@gsuberland THANK YOU! I was not sure if I remembered it correctly since I hst been 30 years but to this day I refuse writing down passwords...
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@gsuberland did you mean "writing your passwords down in notepad.exe"?
That's completely secure.
There will never be a CVE in notepad.exe.@idiot @gsuberland I hate to disturb this train of thought but apparently notepad is getting copilot.
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security advice, 1996: writing your passwords down in a notebook is a very bad idea and nobody should do it
security advice, 2026: writing your passwords down in a notebook is one of the most secure storage methods for most users
(fun how threat models change over time, eh?)
@gsuberland I have a book of all that pesky personal stuff should I become unalive without notice.
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Writing your passwords down in a physical paper notebook, also give your family a chance to access the family pictures and documents on your computers, when you are no longer able to yourself.
Everybody should make a digital "Testament" listing passwords, and who out in the world should be told about the sad news., because they will not see the death-notice in your local paper.
https://github.com/danieldurrans/Digital-Estate-Emergency-Kit
is doing the job for me
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security advice, 1996: writing your passwords down in a notebook is a very bad idea and nobody should do it
security advice, 2026: writing your passwords down in a notebook is one of the most secure storage methods for most users
(fun how threat models change over time, eh?)
@gsuberland
Back then they also thought that changing your password every time you start remembering it was a good idea.Not writing passwords down and not remembering them leads to the most terrible passwords ever.
And just to be sure people used shittu passeords, there were recommendations to take a word and swap a few letters with numbers, e.g. "Pa55w0rd".
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@phloggen @gsuberland I've taken the digital testament a step further. My self hosted service will execute shell and send emails if I miss two weeks acknowledgements (sends keepassxc file and password to family among other actions)
I would never trust a computer with something as emotionally important as this.
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I would never trust a computer with something as emotionally important as this.
@phloggen @gsuberland fair. A computer has about the same emotional intelligence as me, though, so...
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security advice, 1996: writing your passwords down in a notebook is a very bad idea and nobody should do it
security advice, 2026: writing your passwords down in a notebook is one of the most secure storage methods for most users
(fun how threat models change over time, eh?)
@gsuberland Also used to be 8 characters, and shouldn't be
a word. (I think this was some truncation thing.)Now, the recommendation is split among those wanting to use a few words in a row because it's technically harder to brute force, and those who want your small password to have special characters (but not provide emoji support)
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@idiot @gsuberland I hate to disturb this train of thought but apparently notepad is getting copilot.
@gsuberland @loganer @idiot notepad didn’t need copilot to have a CVE.
MS managed to make a mess of markdown. -
@gsuberland Writing them down and making each one unique and at least 10 characters long is very secure as long as you don’t misplace the list.
@gsuberland @Kimota94 losing the list where it will never be found by you or anyone else only makes it even more secure.
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security advice, 1996: writing your passwords down in a notebook is a very bad idea and nobody should do it
security advice, 2026: writing your passwords down in a notebook is one of the most secure storage methods for most users
(fun how threat models change over time, eh?)
@gsuberland @briankrebs Using a clay tablet & a chisel too.
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