[Users] Command line password update?

[Jerry]

On Sat, 22 Sep 2012 04:37:03 +0200
Guus Bonnema articulated:

> On Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:17:22 -0400
> Tom Horsley <horsley1953 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> > I'm getting tired of running around to all the programs that
> > remember the password I'm forced to change every 3 months
> > and changing them individually.
> 
> Some time ago a friend of mine had his personal computer stolen. Of
> course he had most applications remember the passwords, like you do.
> Result was: his email account was purged of emails, his bank account
> was accessed, other accounts were accessed and damaged. It was by no
> means easy to recover all that was lost and he didnt manage to
> recover fully.
> 
> Since then I have stored all my passwords in a central, encrypted
> file using truecrypt and password + key files. This allows me to
> change any password I want only in 2 places: the server concerned and
> the encrypted file. 
> 
> When logging on I use the encrypted file and copy and paste. For
> convenience I have yakuake installed so the terminal is always a F12
> click away, no matter which application I am on. grep+copy+paste does
> the job. And I do not have to remember any passwords.
> 
> The best I can do if the program supports it is remembering for a
> session, which lasts until I shut the application is down.
> 
> Be careful to backup the file encrypted, plus the keyfiles.
> 
> There might be an easier way to do this but I haven't found it yet.

If the stolen PC was being used by the thief, then he/she must have
either known or been able to crack the password to access the machine.
I do hope that your friend was not so stupid (naive) as to not have had
a bonafide password in place.

The only PC that I have that could conceivable be easily stolen would
be my laptop. It is running Windows7 and requires facial recognition
to access the PC. Perhaps your friend might want to consider adding
some additional security to his replacement PC ASAP.

-- 
Jerry ♔

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