Password security issue.

[steve s]

One time I was logging into this forum and accidentally started to type my password into the box for my name. All I had to do was type the first letter of my password and the entire word appeared. Fortunately no on was around, but I realized that anyone could just start typing letters into the box to see what words popped up.
Is there any way to prevent this short of constantly clearing cookies?

Steve S

 

[phunk]

It shouldn't be doing that unless you once accidentally typed the whole password into the username field and submitted it.

Which browser do you use? In firefox, you can click on the text box, hit the down arrow to get to the item you want to delete from the history, then hit shift-delete.

 

[Giraffe107]

Do you have the password saved to your browser? Most browsers allow you to "save" a password for a site.
Or have the "remember me" checkbox clicked?

 

[Brian-M]

One time I was logging into this forum and accidentally started to type my password into the box for my name. All I had to do was type the first letter of my password and the entire word appeared. Fortunately no on was around, but I realized that anyone could just start typing letters into the box to see what words popped up.
Is there any way to prevent this short of constantly clearing cookies?

Steve S

The only time it should automatically fill out the field like that is if you'd entered the same word into the same kind of field before. Not the first time you've typed your password into the login box?

You should have some kind of setting you can select that will cause the browser to automatically clear cookies, browsing history and personal data every time you close the window. (Exactly where to find this option will depend on the specific browser you're using.)

 

[arthwollipot]

Most browsers remember previous entries. You can start typing, arrow down to highlight the entry, and press Delete.

 

[steve s]

Thanks for the responses. I may have entered the entire word at sometime in the past. I'll try phunk's trick.

ETA: I mainly use Firefox.

Steve S

 

[elgarak]

As phunk said, whatever you enter in a password box should not be submitted to the auto-correct dictionary. I just checked with one of my less important ones, and it doesn't work.

Me thinks you have a common dictionary word as password?

 

[jasonpatterson]

As phunk said, whatever you enter in a password box should not be submitted to the auto-correct dictionary. I just checked with one of my less important ones, and it doesn't work.

Me thinks you have a common dictionary word as password?

It seems more likely that it's an autofill option to complete forms quickly rather than autocomplete. Even if his password is 'password' it shouldn't try to fill it in.

 

[Brian-M]

As phunk said, whatever you enter in a password box should not be submitted to the auto-correct dictionary. I just checked with one of my less important ones, and it doesn't work.

Me thinks you have a common dictionary word as password?

The problem isn't that he was typing it into the password box. He accidentally started typing it into the login box, and his entire password popped up for all to see.

 

[arthwollipot]

The problem isn't that he was typing it into the password box. He accidentally started typing it into the login box, and his entire password popped up for all to see.

Which indicates that he's typed the password into the login box before, and the browser - like all browsers - remembers what has been typed into particular fields previously.

Like I said - start typing, arrow down to the password, and press Delete. Problem fixed.

 

[steve s]

Which indicates that he's typed the password into the login box before, and the browser - like all browsers - remembers what has been typed into particular fields previously.

Like I said - start typing, arrow down to the password, and press Delete. Problem fixed.

It's fixed. Thanks for the help. I would imagine a lot of people have accidentally done the same thing, which means you could figure out someone's password by typing in various letters and seeing what pops up.

Steve S