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Leaking Passwords through the Spellchecker

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Full article121 words · extracted from schneier.com · click to collapse

Sometimes browser spellcheckers leak passwords:

When using major web browsers like Chrome and Edge, your form data is transmitted to Google and Microsoft, respectively, should enhanced spellcheck features be enabled.

Depending on the website you visit, the form data may itself include PII­—including but not limited to Social Security Numbers (SSNs)/Social Insurance Numbers (SINs), name, address, email, date of birth (DOB), contact information, bank and payment information, and so on.

The solution is to only use the spellchecker options that keep the data on your computer—and don’t send it into the cloud.

Tags: browsers, data protection, leaks, passwords

Posted on September 26, 2022 at 6:08 AM13 Comments

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Text extracted automatically; images, tables and formatting may be missing. Original: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2022/09/leaking-passwords-through-the-spellchecker.html