Posted on 04/13/2010 10:38:59 PM PDT by ConservativeStatement
To continue reading this story, enter your password now. If you do not have a password, please create one. It must contain a minimum of eight characters, including upper- and lower-case letters and one number. This is for your own good.
Nonsense, of course, but it helps illustrate a point: You will need a computer password today, maybe a half dozen or more — those secret sign-ins that serve as sentries for everything from Amazon shopping carts to work files to online bank accounts. Just when you have them all sorted out, along comes another “urgent” directive from the bank or IT department — time to reset those codes, for safety’s sake. And the latest lineup of log-ins you’ve concocted won’t last for long, either. Some might temporarily stay in your head, others are jotted on scraps of paper and stuffed in a wallet. A few might be taped to your computer monitor in plain view (or are those are from last year’s batch? Who can remember?).
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
I have a legal pad where I have all my passwords written out; and no, I’m not telling where it is.
Until one of your kids grabs it for a scribble pad.
more seriously
(1) Use Linux or Mac
(2) Then it should be safe to keep passwords in email files
Some study will come out that proves that frequent password changes increases exposure and turnover such that there are more points for leakage to the unscrupulous. And, a decent, steady, and unchanged password for the ages far superior.
I keep all of my log-ins and passwords on an Excel spreadsheet which is itself password protected; that way I only have to remember one password. The one to the spreadsheet.
Yeah, that’s why I just make my password PASSWORD1
If that’s not accepted I use PASSWORD11 , and so on, until it works. That way , no matter what I’m logging on to, I can just start with PASSWORD1 and keep adding a ‘1’ to it until it hits.
I don’t have to write it down anywhere it can be found, or lost. Since no one would ever think of using the actual word ‘password’, I feel very safe with my selection, and as a result, I have yet to lose a password and have to have it reset.
What about the one to log onto the computer?
Keep them on a USB flash drive
*If that’s not accepted I use PASSWORD11 , and so on, until it works. That way , no matter what I’m logging on to, I can just start with PASSWORD1 and keep adding a ‘1’ to it until it hits.*
Until you need a special character.
I thought one was supposed to change one’s password often.
Or until you need one that is “not similar to previous passwords.”
I keep mine in my head so if I lose my mind then I guess I’ll have a problem.
I have a random computer file showing dozens of passwords and other security secrets I have accumulated over the years. It is accessible (and updatable) via a key chord and a pass phrase. And no, I'm revealing the key chord nor the pass phrase.
Those studies have been out for years. I wish someone would tell my navy employers that, though. I have to come up with 14 digit passwords using a combination of uppercase, lowercase, numbers and symbols. I have to change my password every 90 days and the new password can't have any consecutive keys that the previous password had.
So how do I memorize these passwords? I don't. I write them down which pretty much defeats the whole purpose.
For a while I was using two passwords. Used them for everything. I've never had a security breach. One was 6 digits, the other 8. Worked just fine for years and years. Now I can't keep track of all of them.
I wrote a program that encrypts the file. Looks just like a text editor except the output file is encrypted. That’s where I keep mine.
Sure. Just remember to write it down somewhere where you (and anyone else) can find it when they need it.
Security is superstition. The suits don't understand it, so they defer to the overpaid consultants. The consultants mumble about entropy and bits of randomness and recommend password constraints. The suits implement the recommendations. The users sigh and write down their newly chosen passwords. Then the hackers go on as usual ...
Remember, passwords are the front door. Hackers don't break down the front door. It's too hard. Instead, they persuade you to open the front door for them. Or they find the back door. Or they climb thru the window.
Example: My B of A password was the CIA's local phone number from forty years ago. Didn't pass muster. The consultants demanded a password with alphas and numerics, not just numerics. Of course, any idiot knows, if the B of A system was secure from the get-go, there is no way the consultants could have known my password was all-numeric in the first place! You never store passwords in the password file! Only one-way hashes! This has been known for decades!
May be of interest.
I’m glad my most important thing on my computer is Free Republic, and they gave me my password...you all are more computer literate than me. (forgot my pictures they are important also) :O)
Smart. And that's what I use. One file with all my passwords, and that file is encrypted and saved in a few places, among them a USB flash drive. So I only need one password to the encryption.
A long time ago (maybe 20 years ago) in a class I took (maybe Cisco), the "expert" teacher told everyone to use passwords with a minimum of 28 characters, mixing in special characters. And to use different passwords for different systems. And to change it every week. I told him in front of the class that he was nuts.
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