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Ask HN: Password Security for Older Folks?

2 pointsby hart_russellover 2 years ago
I recently noticed that my less tech-savvy folks are using the same password across multiple sites. I'm trying to think of a password system that would be easy for them to use. To contrast, I use keepass with a yubikey; something that I think would be much too complicated for them. Any suggestions for a password solution for elderly folks?

2 comments

epcover 2 years ago
I use 1Password with my elderly MIL but she finds it confusing. Even though she has been using computers for 30+ years and a Mac for 15+ years something about the process of clicking the 1P icon in the browser bar or going to 1Password to copy a password frequently trips her up. She will try to remember or write down the password and manually enter it into whatever field she&#x27;s been prompted to fill.<p>As for why we use 1Password instead of iCloud Keychain: my spouse and I are routinely tasked with helping my MIL log into sites, so we have set her account to default to saving to a shared vault we each have access to (we have a separate 1Password family account to share between my spouse and I).<p>We briefly tried a Yubikey and other biometric options and ran into what is apparently a common problem for elderly people: she has barely perceptible fingerprints. She could not use Touch Id on her iPhone when that was a thing and cannot reliable use it on her 2022 MacBook Air.<p>I hate to say this but shifting to a long, memorable passphrase (reused across sites) coupled with a second factor may be more useful for an elderly user.
mohamedattahriover 2 years ago
If they&#x27;re in Apple&#x27;s ecosystem, I&#x27;d say iCloud Keychain is probably the best solution here. Most of time, they won&#x27;t even notice they&#x27;re using it.<p>If not, I&#x27;d recommend 1Password for the ease of use, the good track record, and the great support for all platforms and browsers. Pricing is IMO reasonable as well.