My Shocking Discovery About Chrome's Password Manager
I have saved my passwords using Chrome's password manager for years until I made a shocking discovery. My passwords are not safe at all!
The password manager for Chrome is called Smart Lock and it is so easy to use. You just hit that "Save" button when you sign into a website for the first time. Next time around Chrome will auto fill the details and you don't need to rememeber your password.
If you are using Chrome this should look familiar to you.
See If You Are a Victim
I am going to ask 2 questions and if you answer yes to any of these you could be a victim.
- Do you use Smart Lock on your personal computer and does anyone else have access to it?
- Do you save your personal passwords at work using Smart Lock thinking they are only visible if you log into your Google account?
4 Ways How Other People Can See Your Passwords
Anyone you give permission to use your computer, can see your passwords without any effort. I am talking about your personal and / or work computer. You don't need to be a hacker, only know where to look.
I am talking about friends, family, work colleagues, IT departments, your local computer repair man, etc.
- If your computer is not password protected, the passwords are visible without effort.
- If your computer is password protected and someone else knows it, they can see your passwords, because Google Smart Lock uses your computer password for access to your passwords.
- If you computer is password protected and nobody knows it, but you login for them and they use your computer they can still see your passwords using the "Inspect" element.
- If someone uses your computer they can sync your passwords to their account/s.
I was shocked when I discovered this. I had 100's of passwords saved in Smart Lock. Needless to say I am not using it anymore and got myself a great free password manager.
Are you using Smart Lock? Please let me know.
I will also provide more details on the subject should it be required.
Is anyone aware of this FLAW in Google Chrome's password manager?
Recent Comments
71
Thanks for sharing a good excuse not to let anyone use your computer and if you have repairs change all passwords after
Yes, passwords are very serious stuff. I came up with a system to easily memorize all my passwords, and using this system, I never have to store them anywhere but in my head. :)
I actually did a training on this a while back: How to Make Ultra Strong Passwords that You Won't Forget
Luckily I don't use Smart Lock. I tend to be paranoid about saving passwords on my computer.
There is a good reason you should be paranoid Erica. The problem is I have a lot of sites I sign up to and you are suppose to use a different password for each. If you use the same password for everything and it gets compromised, all your accounts can be at risk and it is for this reason I have to use a password manager. I did find a great password manager and will do training about it in a couple of days:)
I don't use smart lock. I never liked the idea of saving passwords on the internet. I always get this pop up box each time I want to login but I ignore it all the time.
Thanks for this post.
Thanks for the feedback Beatrice. You can disable the pop up. Let me know if you want to know where to disable it:)
Hi Rika,
I use Chrome and that pops up all the time, I always 'x' it out!
Thankfully I don't save them there, and now that I see it's not secure I'm not impressed!
I wonder if Chrome is even aware themselves...
Thanks for sharing :)
They are but not bothered about it. Thanks for the feedback:) You can disable it to not pop up at all. Let me know if you want to know where:)
Look for the 3 vertical dots in the top right corner of your browser. Go to settings, scroll down to advanced, click scroll down some more until you find passwords and forms, select manage passwords and turn it of there. You can turn of auto sign in as well:)
Thanks Loes. Are you aware of these flaws? I am not too sure if some of the other browsers have the same problem.
I know there is a lot going on where we don't know of, I just wrote a post about Facebook, nothing surprises me anymore. Facebook Is Spying On You
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I use Lastpass for passwords so have never used Chrome but good to know and I'll spread the word.
~Mark :)
Thanks Mark. I have heard about Lastpass and will investigate. I did find a great little password manager for now and have decided to do research on password managers:)