How safe are plain text passwords on a computer?

radderfire · 4 Mar 2009 at 20:53

How safe would a plain text password in a Word Doc or similar be on your computer against being found by an external hacker? If you have a standard modem/router setup, how vulnerable do you think a computer is? I am careful about what I download to the computer, I don't open dodgy file attachments etc, but I do use Open Source Apps.

Thanks for any thoughts.

Rgds

JonJ678 · 4 Mar 2009 at 20:58

plain text files with passwords? dont do that unless you dont care about the passwords.
are you running a firewall?

the odds of a hacker attacking your computer are low, but significantly increased if its easier to gain access to

radderfire · 4 Mar 2009 at 20:59

I have the standard Windows Firewall on.

Rgds

CaptainCrash · 4 Mar 2009 at 21:35

I would say you're reasonably safe if you're running the Windows firewall behind a NAT router, but given that it's very easy to secure your passwords, why take even a small risk?

Apart from the (slim) possibility of being hacked, there's always the chance of someone else getting physical access to your PC - if you were burgled for instance, you don't want the evil blaggers adding insult to injury by emptying your bank account as well as turning your house over.

You could at least encrypt the Word document that you're storing your passwords in, or better yet use an app designed for the purpose - KeePass for instance is free and very effective.

theheyes · 4 Mar 2009 at 23:39

As mentioned, the risk is low but it's so easily mitigated you may as well do it for the sake of best practice. The fact that you asked the question implies an element of doubt over how wise it is so make yourself a nice little encrypted volume and your passwords will be safe from both remote and local attack.

Sin_Chase · 4 Mar 2009 at 23:45

If they are into your system that far to be able to open a clear text list of passwords, that's probably the least of your worries.

If your paranoid about it, dump it in a password protected archive.

CaptainCrash · 5 Mar 2009 at 00:16

Sin_Chase said:
If they are into your system that far to be able to open a clear text list of passwords, that's probably the least of your worries.

Well, I wouldn't care if a hax0r found my pr0n collection (notable for its eclecticism as well as its considerable size), but I'd be rather upset if they found the login details for my online banking, so I wouldn't agree it would be the "least of my worries" ...

Anyway, as I mentioned, being hacked is not the only way of inadvertently revealing information you'd rather remained hidden, and it's probably a good idea for most people to get into the habit of encrypting sensitive data as a matter of routine.

Rhys · 5 Mar 2009 at 09:26

I think if you start as you mean to go on with security it is a good thing.

There are loads of free and easy ways of securing data.

Go look at Truecrypt, Rohos, FreeOTFE, Keepass

corsa · 5 Mar 2009 at 09:44

Depends where there saved and what there called.
I.e on the Desktop called "Password List" would be a bit silly.

JC · 5 Mar 2009 at 10:55

You could beef up your security by running a firewall such as comodo, antivirus such as antivir or avast, run a monthly scan with malware/spyware detectors, encrypt your documents in a truecrypt container and store your passwords in a keypass encrypted, password protected database.