Foo - Password security

I find it harder to remember the passwords for all my various message boards, email and bank accounts, and ect. My solution has been to write them all down in my address book then hide the book. I realize I would be screwed if I lose the book or someone else gets a hold of it. How does everyone else remember theirs and keep them secure? An encrypted file on a USB drive? What if the drive gets lost or corrupted? Maybe another suggestion?

use your brain or dont write down what the password is for?? Or switch your passwords so they are the same?

I use keypass (http://keepass.info/) to remember all of my passwords, pins and combinations. Granted, if you lost it, it could be bad but you should keep a copy of the password database backed up somewhere.

Or switch your passwords so they are the same?Very effective but completely awful solution.

Very effective but completely awful solution.
Whats the good solution?
.

Random password generator and a mind like a steel trap. :)

http://content.etilize.com/Large/1010053833.jpg

Random password generator and a mind like a steel trap. :)
My mind is more like a paper bag.
.

So long as you write the passwords on the inside of said paper bag, you should be okay.

just write them under your desk or in random spots...(unlocked sarcasm)

Depends, my hardware PW is biometric, and my electronic PW's are kept in an encrypted file on several separate flash drives. Multiple backups are essential.

I have a hidden place on my hard drive where I store all of my passwords. You would have know exactly where to look and what to look for and know how to properly open it in order to get my passwords. And for all the important stuff, like email, bank account, and credit card are all memorized. I use little phrases that I can remember as a "password key". For instance (this is not one of my phrases), you could use "I like to ride my bike" and use only the last 2 letters of each word (with the exception of I) as your password. Thus, it's pretty much random, but you can remember it.

I write all my passwords on sticky notes and put them on my monitor. It's worked for 20 years.

I alternate between "open sesame" and "abra cadabra"

Very effective but completely awful solution.
There's a variation of this that works just fine. I use the same pw for all low security applications (BF, the zillion things you have to sign up for, online ordering for places that don't remember your CC, etc. Then there's a medium strength one -- that will get you into my email and my Amazon account. To get into something important, I have cryptic passwords committed to memory.

There's a variation of this that works just fine. I use the same pw for all low security applications (BF, the zillion things you have to sign up for, online ordering for places that don't remember your CC, etc. Then there's a medium strength one -- that will get you into my email and my Amazon account. To get into something important, I have cryptic passwords committed to memory.Yep. At least having a few passwords that you use everywhere is a lot better than one password getting into absolutely everything.

use the shift key combined with geeking the word. and add stuff front and back, and use the same password for all things of the same level.

grenade
9r3nad3
9r#nad3

&9r#nad3&

and use that single PW for all message boards that you frequent. write it down on a sticky and stick it on the bottom of your keyboard.

but don't use the same PW, even if it seems hard to crack, for important things that should be kept separate like ebay, paypal and your email.
never ever use the same PW for ebay, paypal, your email and online banking.

just write it down and keep it stored somewhere.

Get a password program that allows you to store all
of them but only requires you to remember one to
access the program.
Use Firefox and allow it to remember the passwords.

Just use Password1 for everything. :p

All of my passwords are in L33t.

Just use Password1 for everything. :pMy first password was "qwerty."

I didn't understand security, and thought I was being clever. :rolleyes:

Be really clever and use non-standard characters....

°½®*¯O¬

Let some TRY to hack that one. lol

combine the brandname and name of the house hold item. those are hard to crack if you make them l337

seicowatch
53ic0wa7ch

use unicode characters
ＰあｓｓＷおｒｄ

°½®*¯O¬
ＰあｓｓＷおｒｄNo worries about posting something regrettable after a night at the bar this way.

Could be worse, the computer network nazi's could have come up with a new rule saying at least two capital letters, two lower case letters, two numbers, and two special characters in a password with at least 15 characters that will change every 45 days and do not write it down. Oh yeah, and make it easy to remember.

passwords are old fashioned.....those of us in the know use retinal scans.
As long as no one removes your eyeball, everythings good.

Slashdot: Passwords From PHPBB Attack Analyzed (http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/02/07/1628234)

Just use the name of the board you're using like everyone else. Or 123456

I find it harder to remember the passwords for all my various message boards, email and bank accounts, and ect. My solution has been to write them all down in my address book then hide the book. I realize I would be screwed if I lose the book or someone else gets a hold of it. How does everyone else remember theirs and keep them secure? An encrypted file on a USB drive? What if the drive gets lost or corrupted? Maybe another suggestion?

I used to have this problem years ago...I finally found the perfect solution.

STOP USING DIFFERENT USERNAMES AND PASSWORDS!!!!

Come up with a good username (e.g. one that won't be already taken) and come up with a good password or two. Just remember those.

I use two passwords, one for forums and things that are not thaaaat important and another one only used for truly secure things like my bank, credit card account, etc....

Or just click on the "I forgot my password" link and reset it each time.

Yep. At least having a few passwords that you use everywhere is a lot better than one password getting into absolutely everything.
Few things are less secure than a list of passwords. You can hide the file, encrypt it, whatever, but you're screwed if you lose the list for whatever reason or someone else finds it.

Most things with passwords simply don't need security, and some of the more insane policies (e.g. requiring pw's of specific lengths, forcing/prohibiting certain characters, forcing changes when you don't feel like changing them, etc) done in the name of security undermine it severely. Even things that really do need passwords often don't require much security since the cost of compromise is low. Every time you answer any kind of question to prove your identity on some 2 bits site, you give away info that could be used to spoof you someplace real.

If you make things easy with the stuff that doesn't matter, you'll have no trouble remembering what's going on in those situations where it does.