[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by GoldenBoy

Govt databases have become suspect with the activity of the hoard buzzing around CMS, IRS, and VA looking for savings. I suspect all of this activity has made our data less than secure and individuals can do nothing to protect themselves as long as there is virtually no accountability for data security.

The only way you can protect yourself these days is to NOT store passwords in the cloud, or on your hard drive. Even then it's not really safe - they can find you with keyloggers.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by rsmurano

Everything is in the cloud these days, 20 years ago I was nervous about the cloud, haven’t been nervous for over 15 years now. How else are all of your devices kept in sync? When you have computers, phones, watches all accessing the same sites, you need a good way to sync all devices and a good password manager. Apple has had this functionality built in for over a decade. Plus now with facial recognition.

But what’s just as important is to turn on 2 phase authentication, and use a password that contains uppercase letters, special characters, numbers and is over 15 chars long. It will take a hundred years to crack it!

If you are Using windows, just put your info on the web because it’s too easy to hack into. Linux and Apple are much harder to hack into.

I agree with the 2 phase authorization, which is often referred to as "two-step verification". My investment accounts have this feature turned on, which is very easy to do in your profile security settings. When you enter your username and password, they will then text or call your phone with a 6-digit code to enter. You must enter the code within about 10 minutes. You need to have your phone with you or you cannot log in. If you don't have this feature turned on, anyone with your username and password can access your account from anywhere. If it is turned on, your username and password are worthless to a hacker. In my opinion, this feature should be mandatory, and not something that needs to be turned on. I highly recommend turning on the two-step verification, which will only add about 15 seconds to your log in process.

[DaddyD]

Originally Posted by villagetinker

I do not trust anything that is online (aka cloud) storage, and I do not like local storage on my PC, so I have my own secret way of storing passwords which I will not give out on an open forum. There are ways to keep your passwords safe I have over 100 currently.

Any reason why you can't discuss your method in just vague general terms??

But more importantly, pretty much all of us (yes, I know there are outliers) will get more forgetful as we age, and what will you do if (God forbid) you get beginning stages of dementia / Alzheimers?

It might be a pain if someone found out my username and password to online forums such as these, but I'm really only concerned about someone hacking into my email account & banking / investment accounts. I'm thinking of buying an inexpensive Chromebook and using it EXCLUSIVELY when I need online access to my Fidelity & Vanguard investment accounts & the crypto/bitcoin exchanges I'm on. I would not use it for email or to log on to any other website, but again use it solely for online access to my investment accounts.

I'm considering Chromebook because a) they are cheap, and b) because I've been told that they are very basic computers with very little memory and are therefore very hard to hack & aren't very susceptible to malware. If anyone here is knowledgable about Chromebooks and whether or not they would be good for what I'm proposing, I'd appreciate feedback.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by DaddyD

Any reason why you can't discuss your method in just vague general terms??

But more importantly, pretty much all of us (yes, I know there are outliers) will get more forgetful as we age, and what will you do if (God forbid) you get beginning stages of dementia / Alzheimers?

It might be a pain if someone found out my username and password to online forums such as these, but I'm really only concerned about someone hacking into my email account & banking / investment accounts. I'm thinking of buying an inexpensive Chromebook and using it EXCLUSIVELY when I need online access to my Fidelity & Vanguard investment accounts & the crypto/bitcoin exchanges I'm on. I would not use it for email or to log on to any other website, but again use it solely for online access to my investment accounts.

I'm considering Chromebook because a) they are cheap, and b) because I've been told that they are very basic computers with very little memory and are therefore very hard to hack & aren't very susceptible to malware. If anyone here is knowledgable about Chromebooks and whether or not they would be good for what I'm proposing, I'd appreciate feedback.

Do you have the two-step verification turned on for your Vanguard and Fidelity accounts? If so, someone with your username and password cannot log in to your accounts without access to your cell phone. My cell phone requires my fingerprint to unlock it.

[RoseyRed]

Originally Posted by DaddyD

Any reason why you can't discuss your method in just vague general terms??

But more importantly, pretty much all of us (yes, I know there are outliers) will get more forgetful as we age, and what will you do if (God forbid) you get beginning stages of dementia / Alzheimers?

It might be a pain if someone found out my username and password to online forums such as these, but I'm really only concerned about someone hacking into my email account & banking / investment accounts. I'm thinking of buying an inexpensive Chromebook and using it EXCLUSIVELY when I need online access to my Fidelity & Vanguard investment accounts & the crypto/bitcoin exchanges I'm on. I would not use it for email or to log on to any other website, but again use it solely for online access to my investment accounts.

I'm considering Chromebook because a) they are cheap, and b) because I've been told that they are very basic computers with very little memory and are therefore very hard to hack & aren't very susceptible to malware. If anyone here is knowledgable about Chromebooks and whether or not they would be good for what I'm proposing, I'd appreciate feedback.

Online security methods that are selected boil down to an individual preference. I am not intentionally trying to be vague. I have found long drawn out details do not interest most people. A simple suggestion may prompt someone to research if it is something they are interested in and find the details on their own.