Forgive my ignorance, I am not well versed in cybersecurity. I tried looking it up but I couldn't find the answer I was looking for, perhaps from a lack of the right search terms.
My question is, is copying/pasting sensitive information (e.g. usernames/passwords) any safer than typing it, or is that irrelevant?
I understand that VPN provides security by both hiding IPs and encrypting traffic. That implies that if I were not on VPN, then I'm most vulnerable only when logging into things, when I'm sending password data out.
However sometimes I see options for using a virtual keyboard to input sensitive data, which makes me think it's not just the transmission of data but the actual input of data itself that is vulnerable. If that's the case, would copying/pasting sensitive information be any safer than typing it (e.g. from a password manager to a website)? Or is using a virtual keyboard (and perhaps copying/pasting data) only secure if your system is already compromised, like through a keylogger? This is assuming I'm still not securing my connection via VPN or other means.