Change Weak Password for Unused Site?

Ask the Community Password Manager
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1

Let’s say I have a weak password for a forum that I no longer use and don’t expect to use in the future.

Should I change that password?

2

I would distinguish two different situations:

  1. unique password, only used in that (one) forum of yours → possibly not that important to change your password (unless you have sensitive information in your profile and/or you can imagine, an “account overtake” would possibly be harmful for yourself, e.g. a forum in business contexts and you want to “remain trustworthy” etc.)

  2. not a unique password (= same password used on other accounts of yours, possible important accounts) → make the password stronger as fast as you can (and change everywhere to unique, random and long passwords)

1 Like
3

@SurferAl
The advice provided my @Nail1684 is on point.

In addition, it is possible for criminals to take over forum accounts (or other low-stakes accounts) and use them for illicit purposes (e.g., distributing illegal digital content, or communicating anonymously with other criminals). If something like this happens with an account that is traceable to you, then you might eventually expect a visit from a three-letter agency…
:eagle: :dark_sunglasses: :dark_sunglasses: :dark_sunglasses: :oncoming_police_car: :oncoming_police_car: :man_police_officer: :man_police_officer: :man_police_officer: :man_police_officer:

My advice would be: If the account is still usable, then change the password to a strong one.

P.S. I’ve moved your post from the Feature Request section of the forum to the Ask the Community section of the forum.

1 Like
4

Great advice. Also, Bitwarden makes it really easy to create the “unique password option”, which is better where possible with your account setup. Since BW is filling in the passwords as you log in I can’t seen any reason not to use a unique password given the option to do so. Just a thought.

ps – I actually have just a few scenarios where I MUST have the same password because some of my Federal website accounts are “married” to each other.

grb — your emoticons in the post above made me smile — thank you!!

5

I’m also going to assume that changing the password is a better option than deleting the account.

6

The safest option is to change the password first, and then delete the account.