Stored passwords & Such -- real or perceived risk?

[PMah]

Hi folks,  I was wondering if people had strong negative experience (or strong technical knowledge) with those browser-based features and apps that store website passwords, such as available with a  google account or, in particular, with security tools such as norton.  I have resisted using such features, but perhaps my info is out of date.
     In particular, this idea is for my numismatic efforts, so it would include dealer sites, data sites, and libraries.  (I am not contemplating using these apps for core financial sites, such as bank accounts or paypal.)  In other words, I'd like dozens of sites to pop up fully functional, such as Forum. I spend a lot of time just logging in on these sites  and it interupts the flow of my thoughts when cross-checking information.
    Those sites seem lower risk, even though there is a potential for someone fraudulently to start a transaction or be seen as making a statement, actually completing transactions typically require other interactions.
   Views based on current actual experience would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[Meepzorp]

Hi PMah,

I don't have any "actual experience" because I would never use those sites/apps that store passwords, etc. What is to stop someone from hacking in and stealing all of your passwords? In my mind, it seems like an incredibly stupid idea. This whole notion is ridiculous. It is bad enough when a hacker hacks into one of your sites. But can you imagine how catastrophic it would be if a hacker obtained all of your passwords? I am sure that the hackers know these sites/apps exist, and it probably makes them salivate. Just the thought that all of someone's passwords are stored in one site/app would give them tremendous incentive to attempt to hack into it.

Regarding accessing websites, as soon as I open my browser, Forum's icon appears, and I click on it and log in. The entire process (opening the browser, going to the site, and logging in) takes less than 5-10 seconds, and my computer is 5 1/2 years old. How much faster do you want to access these sites? Maybe it is just me and my age and generation. I am a GenXer. Compared to when I grew up (1970s and 1980s), today's speeds are lightening fast.

When I first became interested in computers and got my first computer (an Atari 400 home computer in circa 1981/1982), data was stored on a cassette tape (like a music album). The internet was virtually non-existent, and I didn't have a modem, which was considered a rare, exotic, and expensive "novelty" for wealthy people (which we weren't) in the early 1980s. I had an Atari 410 cassette player that would download the file/program to my Atari 400 home computer. It literally took 30-45 minutes ( !!!!!) for one file/program to load. And that is if the loading process was successful on the first attempt and you didn't have to repeat the process because the loading attempt failed, which happened all too frequently.

"Back in my day..."

Meepzorp

[Anaximander]

For me, having a collection of websites sites pop up and getting them fully functional (i.e., logged in) is still a two-step process, at best.

I like to access numismatic sites (your "dealer sites, data sites, and libraries") on a PC and a tablet, but I only have a collection of sites popping up on my Windows PC.  The new Edge browser has a Collection feature that I only recently started using. I'm now a fan.  It may have cousins at other browsers.  Since it doesn't keep passwords, it's fairly benign.

Unlike Meepzorp, I occasionally use a separate password keeper, and it works on PCs and tablets, but it's cumbersome.  It doesn't have collections, just one gigantic maw. Fortunately, I don't need to log in every time to every website, if the web page "remembers" me from a prior visit, like acsearch.info and forumancientcoins.com.

Here's a quick example of how I use the Collections feature in my browser...

[Virgil H]

All these password savers are supposed to be encrypted. I use them. Never had an issue. That said, caveat emptor.
Virgil

[PMah]

Thanks for the input, everyone.  I suppose I am (only slightly) more decayed than Meep's vintage, so I see the time passing out of the big hourglass in the sky differently!   Seconds add up! 

However, one speed-demon recommendation that I can reciprocate with is to make sure your next computer upgrade includes a solid state drive (basically a big flash drive) built in, along with the traditional hard drive.  The SSD carries all the time-consuming application files and loads them much, much faster.  And for a bit more expenditure, you can go all SSD (now standard on Apple, I think). 

[Meepzorp]

Hi PMah,

Isn't flash memory (which I think is the same thing as SSD memory) unstable and not good for long-term storage? And it fails catastrophically, usually with no warning, whereas hard drives usually give you a warning before they fail.

For stable, long-term storage, external hard drives are better.

I use a flash drive to store all of my coin photos. It is now 5 1/2 years old, and I am very concerned that it will just fail catastrophically one day, with no warning. I bought it because it was significantly cheaper than an external hard drive. I also thought that it was better because, unlike an external hard drive, it has no moving parts. That was before I educated myself about these issues.

A few years ago, we discussed these issues here in Forum.

Meepzorp

[dwarf]

As to passwords: use a password manager, perhaps pay a few bucks for usage on different computers, laptops, phones.

I always have three backups. Two on my computer (internal and external harddrive) and one "in the cloud", running once a day.

Regards
Klaus

[Joe Sermarini]

Just be sure to never lose the password on a bitcoin wallet!