Is it that bad to write down a password?

Everyone has different strategies for managing their passwords – some are better, and some are worse.

Today, let’s focus on one of the most old-fashioned ways to manage one’s credentials. Let’s see if people who write down their passwords are protecting or risking their cybersecurity.

So, is it that bad to write down a password?

How common is it to write down a password?

People glue sticky notes on their work desks with passwords.

Amazon and Etsy sell such things as password books.

A guy creates a new account because he forgot where he wrote down the password to the old one.

These are not hypothetical cases. Usually, we all know at least one person who did or still does it.

Keeping passwords in physical or virtual notebooks is not uncommon. 4 out of 10 organizations rely on sticky notes to manage their passwords.

People are still running around the office and asking who has a Wi-Fi password note.

Is it a safe way to manage passwords?

One thing is sure – passwords on sticky notes can quickly become annoying, especially when you or your colleagues forget where they put them.

But what about safety?

Passwords written down on a sticky sheet or kept in a notebook are a relatively safe way to manage passwords.

There is little chance the cybercriminal would try to access your home and rob your password book.

Of course, the risk increases if you carry the notebook around in public. People might steal your notebook or (accidentally) look over your shoulder and see the passwords.

However, the probability of losing the physical notebook is not the most critical security flaw.

What is the real risk associated with written-down passwords?

The more significant risk is associated with the content of the notebook. That is, the way people create and write down passwords manually.

Humans naturally select the shortest roads and the easiest methods to do something. The same applies to passwords kept in notebooks.

If a person writes down a password on a sticky note, he will most likely come up with a relatively short and easy-to-type credential.

It is extremely unlikely that a person would write down and manually type such passwords as [email protected]#NeUca`yxN5.

Instead, he would write down such passwords as twitter123456 – it is easy to create and type it when needed.

And that’s how the person can fall into a few of the most common cybersecurity traps: using weak passwords or reusing them across multiple accounts.

Simply because it is more convenient.

Therefore, the biggest security risks do not come from people writing down their credentials on sticky notes. Instead, the password itself is usually the most vulnerable factor.

Is there anything you can do?

How to remember dozens of passwords without a notebook?

If you want to find a more secure (and convenient!) way to remember dozens of passwords, consider trying out the best method to manage passwords – use a password manager like PassCamp.

PassCamp intuitively eliminates the need for you to write down a password.

First, it suggests generating unique, strong passwords for each account. It then automatically saves the password and assigns it to that specific website. The next time you visit the website, a password manager automatically fills in your login details.

All your data is stored in the most secure existing virtual “notebook” – a vault. Here, your information is protected with a military-grade encryption method that is virtually unbreakable.

In the end, you do not need to remember your passwords anymore. They are all saved securely and ready to be used on any device, anywhere you go.

Try PassCamp for free and see how smoothly one tool can solve all your password problems.