How many passwords?

So there I sat, trying to remember my eBay password. Eventually, I had to use the 'forgot password' link and, after two tries at answering the security question, got a temp password emailed to me. What should have taken 30 seconds took the better part of a quarter hour.

It got me to wondering about how many passwords I have (turn out, about 14) and how many places I need them for: about 47. That's websites, bank and credit cards, even my library card now has a password backup.

I do cheat and use the same password for multiple things (for example: same password for all my BOINC projects) though I do change them all periodically. And all the passwords are random letter/number combinations. No one would ever figure them out but they are hard to remember especially 14 of them and when you're not that bright to begin with. :P

So, how many passwords do you have and how many places, cards, doors, etc do you need them for?
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Don't feel bad KB....
I have a very bad memory for numbers...they vex me. So I have to try to make passwords something I can relate to. What I end up with is not what security experts recommend.
I have about 4 or 5 passwords that I use for everything from my Seti login to my credit cards to my online accounts. When I cannot remember which one I used for a particular account, I try the other variations on the theme.
Might be 20-25 places I have to use them.
And it's getting harder to keep track. My password typically has been all lower case with a number or two or three. Now some places are upgrading their login security and also want a capitol letter thrown in.

Luckily, the Seamonkey browser I use will store passwords for most sites I have to log into, and that saves a lotta grief.
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"Ask not, what your kitty can do for you. Ask what you can do for your kitty."

As it is kitten, so shall it be done.

I've got 54 and keep a coded hardcopy...Just in case Me Mind Slips a gear. ;o)
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I Desire Peace and Justice, Jim Scott

I have 12 different passwords.
Boinc sites, bank accounts, pay TV and so on.
Numbers are my life tho.


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I've got 54 and keep a coded hardcopy...Just in case Me Mind Slips a gear. ;o)

Luckily, the Seamonkey browser I use will store passwords for most sites I have to log into, and that saves a lotta grief.

Luckily, the Seamonkey browser I use will store passwords for most sites I have to log into, and that saves a lotta grief.

Having had a burglar steal the computer, doing that gives them everything else they need to continue to rip you off.

Luckily, the Seamonkey browser I use will store passwords for most sites I have to log into, and that saves a lotta grief.

Having had a burglar steal the computer, doing that gives them everything else they need to continue to rip you off.

Luckily, the Seamonkey browser I use will store passwords for most sites I have to log into, and that saves a lotta grief.

Having had a burglar steal the computer, doing that gives them everything else they need to continue to rip you off.

Number one rule in IT buisness.
Never save a password on your computer.

All my BOINC projects have the same password. 3 email accounts all have the same. My work I have 3, our LAN password, our password to log into our dispatch system, and a password to log into the nationwide wants/warrants system. Banks all have different ones.
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When I was a Computer Support Manager in a 1000 user building in Central London, We often worked until 6pm on day to day stuff. It was not unusual to go to a work area at 5pm to deal with a reported problem, only to find that the person had gone home at 4pm. Time and time again you would find the password taped under the keyboard, or on a post-it note under the mouse mat. Occasionally in the pull-out pen tray in a desk pedestal.

One time a chap had left his desk diary open and it said "wedding Anniversary, taking xxxxx to dinner". I typed his wifes name and bingo I was in! OK, it sometimes meant that we could fix the problem in their absence, but we asked them not to do things like that as it could be accessed by cleaners or others after hours or at weekends. And these were L3 Managers!

I have 8 passwords that I need, and I change them every month. I commit to memory so I regularly have to ask for reminders!

58
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More than i can ever hope to memorise.
Though swearing and the most despicable words are allowed,
And `deliberate` speling mistakes are my speciality . . . . .
Its a good job it has to be typed in twice so that i can work out what it waz that i wrote down first !!!

I do wonder if any admin do read some of my choices,
And have i ever killed their keyboard with their coffee :)

One guy I dealt with had as his password "XXXXXisatotalwa**ker", XXX being the General Manager. (the asterisks are mine to be kid friendly). I had to ask him to change it. If it got out he would have been in trouble, and so would we for letting him have it :-))

I have about one, pseudorandom, password per account, using a javascript password generator driven by easier-to-remember keywords. (A Search will provide various alternative generators). I have an encrypted reminder file on a stick just in case.

The main problem with this is sites which specify their own recipes for passwords. Choosing another keyword can sometimes solve this.