A.R.S.E.

Looks like a month's work to change them all and then have another breach later i suppose.

I guess i should start using those wacky passwords websites suggest.

I got 15 and thought it was annoying... but felt compelled to fix them... turned into a nostalgia trip! (if the websites still exist).

It is a pain in the arse, but I have been using LastPass for years and it auto generates those tricky passwords for me.

My issue with things like LastPass is, what happens when they get hacked?

LastPass for me too thanks to Mr norbs recommendation.
But yes I have also thought the same, only a matter of time they get hacked especially once quantum computing is in the mainstream.

What site did you use to check smith?

A few years back I had Kev disable my account here, then a few months later re-enable it. Either he or the software set the password to 123456. I forgot to change it and must have gone 5 years without noticing.

Duke wrote:LastPass for me too thanks to Mr norbs recommendation.
But yes I have also thought the same, only a matter of time they get hacked especially once quantum computing is in the mainstream.

What site did you use to check smith?

Duke, I was getting a Google account popup nearly every time I logged into a site to say my passwords could be compromised - I finally clicked the button to check and that's what I got. And yes, some real old websites and forums on the list.

Oh no, what happened? How come so many?

I devised my own password system that I used for years which was easily memorable to me but unique for each site. Unfortunately there's so much variation in password validation that it just became too annoying to keep track of so I eventually switched to a password manager. Aside from the convenience, a big benefit is that it helps keep track of all the places you have personal data stored.

I found LastPass too clumsy to use and a horrible UX. Dashlane is pretty good though. The worry that they'll be hacked one day is real but they've been around for a while now and I don't think any of them have been breached.

By the way, Firefox have a service you can sign up to that monitors your email address and will inform you of a breach.
https://monitor.firefox.com/

And another thing, make sure you have two-factor authentication enabled wherever you can.

Also, sorry for the weird kaleidoscope effect from my avatar when I post a bunch of posts in a row

I got LastPass (sorry durbs, before I saw your helpful posts) - set it up on my work laptop, but when trying to add the chrome extension on my home PC it asks for the master password which of course I let LastPass set, and it told me it would remember it. Fark.

[Edit: solved it]