This has always disturbed me to no end. Devices hiding MY password, from ME!

In the infancy of the computer age, all the way through today. They taught you two basic things. Protect your password from others, don’t use the same password on multiple accounts. In working environments this made sense. In other situations, not so much. The geniuses  thought if they hid the password as it was typed on the screen, then someone behind you, could not see and steal your password. Thus, a “Star” was born (An asterisk actually).

Never mind the fact they could watch you type out your password on the keys. Of course, polite people turn their heads, or turn around as someone is using a password. Or a sneaky key-logger program could capture your passwords as you typed them asterisks or not. It records the keys pressed, not what shows on the screen.  Showing the Asterisk in a workplace environment may be a good idea, not so much in our own privacy. If someone I don’t know is standing behind me, in my house, then they have a bigger problem than just seeing my password.

Password History

• Passwords were simple, it wasn’t a smart thing, but simple. abcd, 1234, flower, ford, etc. There were far fewer threats in those days.
• Companies would actually assign passwords like  (first/last name initials and employee number).
• Computers became more important, and we were told our passwords were too easy to guess. Hacking programs could find the password in milliseconds. We needed letters and numbers.
• We were told that they needed to be over 8 characters, made of all manner of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols.
• We now have evolved into something like  wuGqF3yqA3o*CAu  (randomly generated for an example, not an actual password).

Password managers

People with multiple phones, computers and other devices they own, need to remember these ultra complex passwords. So password Managers were born. What happened to the cardinal rule, “Don’t share your password with anyone”. They will store your password/s for you, and insert them as you visit your websites. Really convenient, but what happens if someone hacks the password manager site. Or hacks a large website you do business with. Then you must start the process over, making new passwords. So we hide them from our own sight, but hand them over to a total stranger to keep for us, and hope they are secure from attacks.
2017 Data Breach of OneLogin. All US customers emails, passwords stolen.

I get way too frustrated trying to remember if I hit the wrong key by accident, little stars staring at me are no help, and some programs, don’t display anything while you type the password. How about giving the user the option, especially in a private setting, of default showing the password as you type it. Turn it on or off if needed. It’s 2018, why are we still hiding passwords from ourselves?

What are your feelings on “Staring at the Stars” (Asterisks) trying to use your password.

Comments always welcome,