# @#%&@!! Passwords/Usernames



## Jack Straw (Aug 10, 2012)

I am up to about 30 different passwords and or ids with everything I have going on. 1 compamy requires me to change the password every 90 days. I can't remember all of this.....I am starting to keep them on my Ipad, but I don't always have it. How do you handle this problem?


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## Delta-T (Aug 10, 2012)

same password for anything that isn't deemed "sensitive information". my email, and whatnot have complex 3 letter passwords...everything else is simple.


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## Jags (Aug 10, 2012)

Do what everybody else does--write it down on a piece of paper and tape it to your monitor.


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## fossil (Aug 10, 2012)

Mine are all scribbled on a piece of paper which is cleverly folded and concealed beneath my mouse pad where nobody would ever expect to find it.


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## swagler85 (Aug 10, 2012)

fossil said:


> Mine are all scribbled on a piece of paper which is cleverly folded and concealed beneath my mouse pad where nobody would ever expect to find it.


well now your secrets out, time for a new hiding place


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## billb3 (Aug 10, 2012)

fossil said:


> Mine are all scribbled on a piece of paper which is cleverly folded and concealed beneath my mouse pad where nobody would ever expect to find it.


 
Spare front door key under the mat  ?


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## fossil (Aug 10, 2012)

billb3 said:


> Spare front door key under the mat ?


 
Front door's never locked.


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## begreen (Aug 10, 2012)

I keep a simple database that contains them. There's no way I could remember them all.

I've been considering getting a utility for this because the need for stronger pwds is growing.This is one I am looking at:
http://keepass.info/


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## fossil (Aug 10, 2012)

begreen said:


> I keep a simple database that contains them. There's no way I could remember them all.
> 
> Have been considering getting a utility for this because the need for stronger pwds is growing.This is one I am looking at:
> http://keepass.info/


 
Presumably, if your computer's password protected, you keep that one someplace other than the database.  Don't want to lock the keys in the car.


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## begreen (Aug 10, 2012)

Computer and the database are pwd protected. The keys remain in my head for that right now, but as I get older, this is risky business.


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## fossil (Aug 10, 2012)

Indeed it is, as I well know.


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## Sprinter (Aug 10, 2012)

I keep all of mine on a written list and put it in a safe along with all our valuables. I tape the combination to the safe on the monitor screen in case I forget it.


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## Jack Straw (Aug 10, 2012)

Part of my rant is due to our new email at work, I just tried emailing my boss and under contacts they have listed our vehicles, somehow they now have email addresses ! 


 	Name      	Alias 	Phone 	Office 	Title 	Company 

 	2011 Chevy Impala Black MS 	2011ChevyImpalaBlack 	 	 	 	 
 	2011 Chevy Impala White MS 	2011ChevyImpalaWhite


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## PapaDave (Aug 11, 2012)

Screw it. Make 'em all the same.


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## jc64 (Aug 11, 2012)

On my home computer, under the "Favorites" drop-down, I have listed the passwords next to the saved sites. Example: [hearth.com - jc64 - password]. On most all the forums I'm on my screen mane is jc64, so I just have the website then the password. As for the work passwords that need to be reset, I use the same word but change the number at the end. I started with "password1" now I am up to "password17" after 4 years.

jc

Note, password is not my password, I used the word password as an example of my real password. So if you try password as a password it will say password is an invalid password for a password.


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## Realstone (Aug 11, 2012)

begreen said:


> Computer and the database are pwd protected. The keys remain in my head for that right now, but as I get older, this is risky business.


That could conceivably be hacked.  I picked up a 'little black book' from the $ store.  It is alphabetized so it makes it easy to store passwords and look them up.  And it frees you to make them really cryptic too.  Like this one:  P1o#O_-h:b~


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## Pallet Pete (Aug 11, 2012)

Mine are in a password encrypted document lol !

Pete


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## webbie (Aug 11, 2012)

It is horrible - we need more biometric stuff....

Here's what I do. I use gmail, which is available from everywhere. So I send myself an email with some hints in it as to the password. I don't think anyone else could interpret this.

Example:
If my facebook password was dogboat8, I'd send myself an email with "facebook fb pw password" in the title or body (so I could easily search for it later).

Then the body of the email would say something like:

k9cataddy

or even more mumbled. K9 stands for dog, cat stands for my boat (catamaran), addy stands for my current address (8).

This is just an example. My actual PW's would be harder for others...I would not use K9, etc.......


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## begreen (Aug 11, 2012)

A strong password contains no common words at all, at least one capital letter and a non-alphabetic character. Mine used to be easy and I still use simple ones for light stuff. But for important sites (anything dealing with money for example) the pwd should be very strong and changed every 90 days or so. It's a pita, but so is having your identity hijacked.


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## webbie (Aug 11, 2012)

Ditto on the money stuff! My simple PW's are for FB, Forums, Etc........

Don't do it for bank accts, ebay, paypal, etc.....

There are some password programs, but they have a password you need to get in! From that standpoint, the piece of paper in the filing cabinet is quite safe, especially if it somewhat codes the particular site names.....


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## Sprinter (Aug 11, 2012)

webbie said:


> It is horrible - we need more biometric stuff....
> 
> Here's what I do. I use gmail, which is available from everywhere. So I send myself an email with some hints in it as to the password. I don't think anyone else could interpret this.
> 
> ...


I do like the idea of using a web-based email like gmail as a cloud, which is accessible wherever you might go. Email accounts can be hacked, though, especially in a public wifi area, so you have to be careful there, and like webbie does, ecrypt them further with some kind of code which is a pita also.

The problem with little black books and lists and such is that they can be found by a burglar or something. Even your written lists should probably be encypted some way and well hidden, at least from a casual burglar. I hate the idea of having such lists in a password protected file in my computers because I'd go crazy if my computer got lost or stolen, knowing that it could possibly be hacked, and you still have to have a backup list somewhere for that possibility anyway.

I guess there are commercial apps and clouds to handle that, but I don't know anything about them.


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## Realstone (Aug 11, 2012)

Realstone said:


> That could conceivably be hacked. I picked up a 'little black book' from the $ store. It is alphabetized so it makes it easy to store passwords and look them up. And it frees you to make them really cryptic too. Like this one: P1o#O_-h:b~





begreen said:


> A strong password contains no common words at all, at least one capital letter and a non-alphabetic character. Mine used to be easy and I still use simple ones for light stuff. But for important sites (anything dealing with money for example) the pwd should be very strong and changed every 90 days or so. It's a pita, but so is having your identity hijacked.


Do it in pencil and it can be changed with ease.


Sprinter said:


> The problem with little black books and lists and such is that they can be found by a burglar or something. Even your written lists should probably be encypted some way and well hidden, at least from a casual burglar. I hate the idea of having such lists in a password protected file in my computers because I'd go crazy if my computer got lost or stolen, knowing that it could possibly be hacked, and you still have to have a backup list somewhere for that possibility anyway.


 
I guess any system can be compromised


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## webbie (Aug 11, 2012)

Here is another hint.....you might have a combination lock or something else with a 4 or 5 number lock.

If you use that as part of your pw , it can be easier to remember. I really don't think anyone is gonna get the combo to your gun safe, etc. and then know it's also your ebay pw.

But to add another layer, you can code it in your hints - maybe use it backwards, etc.

Again, this is not as safe as y75eIUMH10+mn71MZmz, but often vastly better than the common passwords. I just heard a newscast about the most common passwords and they are stuff like 0000 and 1234, etc. 

So most anything you do is a step above!

I don't think I've ever been hacked in that way in all my years, but admittedly that makes me lazier than I should be!


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## begreen (Aug 11, 2012)

Realstone said:


> Do it in pencil and it can be changed with ease.


 
I do just that and for some pwds have worn a hole in the paper.


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## webbie (Aug 11, 2012)

Don't use names of the president(s).


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## begreen (Aug 11, 2012)

The most common pass word is ....password

really.


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## Sprinter (Aug 11, 2012)

> I guess any system can be comprimised


And therein lies the problem. Just depends on how far you want to go and how paranoid you are. My own level of paranoia varies with the news. Which is why I seldom listen to the news.  I'm happier being just a little uninformed.


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## Realstone (Aug 11, 2012)

Here is a simple way to create a memorable but strong password.  Take any four or five letter word that you can remember. Take the last four digits of your first phone number.  Splice them together.  Example:  Split and 1865  joined together S1P8L6i5T


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## Corey (Aug 11, 2012)

Delta-T said:


> same password for anything that isn't deemed "sensitive information". my email, and whatnot have *complex 3 letter passwords*...everything else is simple.


 
Yikes! I might offer that there are NO 'complex' 3 letter passwords...even using lower case and caps and numbers and symbols, it could probably be brute-force guessed in a few minutes.

Obligatory XKCD on passwords:

http://xkcd.com/936/

The easiest and most secure option is a passphrase...throw in some punctuation, a few caps and a number ... still could be guessed, but probably not worth the effort unless its a matter of national security!


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## Lewiston (Aug 14, 2012)

Look into LastPass.com
Read what Steve Gibson has to say about it.


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## bfunk13 (Aug 15, 2012)

For forums, facebook etc. I just use the same one and never log out.
Banking or sensitive ones, is the wife's job anyways.


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## firebroad (Aug 15, 2012)

Like Jack, I recently had to change my e-mail--I was shocked at all the passwords I had!  I have a list of them now, and it is getting longer.  Sheesh.
Remember when "Password" was just a game show?


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## Realstone (Aug 16, 2012)

Firefox stores them for you.  Click Tools>Options then click the Security tab>Saved Passwords>Show Passwords


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