this post was submitted on 15 Dec 2023
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I really wish their password manager used a serif font, though. That's pretty unacceptable if you're generating secure passwords.
Could you explain why them not using a serif font is bad?
Generally speaking, serif fonts make it easier to distinguish between visually similar characters like o, O, and 0 or 1, I, and l.
Yeah that’s true, but I can’t see why distinguishing is required of a human. I use my password manager to generate and input passwords for me. I don’t even know any of them.
It's not uncommon for the password manager to not be on the same system as where the password is being entered - hence a human needs to type. For example: consumer electronics with their own dinky little screens. Smart TVs/game systems and servers where remote access is not possible (or copy/paste does not work by design).
Oh yeah that makes perfect sense; I just hadn’t thought of it because those scenarios haven’t applied to me for a bit. One solution would be to generate readable passwords like discernible sentences. Longer in most cases so more entropy, and less chance to confuse characters.
Some password managers provide this as an option, though some authN systems require special characters because they think it improves security.
Or if you have to do business with a dinosaur company that won't let you paste in the PW field.
Please don't use serif fonts for UI elements. Imagine the buttons on your file manager being Times New Roman. (eww.) I think what you're looking for is a monospaced font that's designed to distinguish O/0, I/1/l, etc.
Plug for one of my favorite fonts: https://www.jetbrains.com/lp/mono/