How many passwords?

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Profile Allie in Vancouver
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Message 1340212 - Posted: 22 Feb 2013, 14:26:59 UTC

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?
Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas.

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Message 1340218 - Posted: 22 Feb 2013, 14:35:39 UTC
Last modified: 22 Feb 2013, 14:37:16 UTC

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.
"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

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Message 1340223 - Posted: 22 Feb 2013, 14:40:46 UTC

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

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Message 1340224 - Posted: 22 Feb 2013, 14:45:16 UTC

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




With each crime and every kindness we birth our future.
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Message 1340226 - Posted: 22 Feb 2013, 14:48:57 UTC - in response to Message 1340223.  

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

LOL...yours does that too?

I suppose for security reasons, my response should have been.......

I have 168 passwords, all created by a random character generator. I change all of them every few weeks, so don't even bother to try cracking my accounts.

Yeah, right.
"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

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Message 1340227 - Posted: 22 Feb 2013, 14:51:51 UTC - in response to Message 1340218.  

Like kenzieb, all of my Boinc projects have the same password. No two banking sites have the same one. Most of my email accounts have the same one.

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

That's fine until you get a new computer and you suddenly can't remember any of your passwords because the browser has been storing them for you and you haven't needed to remember them. I have most of mine written down... somewhere....

David
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Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

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Message 1340228 - Posted: 22 Feb 2013, 14:55:29 UTC - in response to Message 1340218.  

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.

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Message 1340230 - Posted: 22 Feb 2013, 14:57:18 UTC - in response to Message 1340228.  

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.



With each crime and every kindness we birth our future.
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Message 1340231 - Posted: 22 Feb 2013, 14:58:54 UTC - in response to Message 1340228.  

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.

Very good point. Which, I must confess, had never crossed my mind.
"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

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Message 1340244 - Posted: 22 Feb 2013, 15:33:33 UTC - in response to Message 1340223.  

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

Yeah for the more complex passwords, I store them in a text file on My PC(My Brother seems to have done the same thing when He was in the Navy, they never caught on though, He'd have been discharged medically before He reached His 20 years), as to how many I have? I haven't foggiest, I use one password for most ordinary sites like forums since I don't have very good short term memory for all things, long term is ok though, sometimes I wish I didn't remember quite so well though.
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Message 1340337 - Posted: 22 Feb 2013, 18:33:06 UTC - in response to Message 1340230.  

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.


Rather, never save an unencrypted pwd on a computer.
I don't think anybody is going to break through a 1024 bit TrueCrypt key in a hurry.

I distingush between low, medium and high security passwords.
Gaming all get they same low-security easily memorable pwd - there's nothing to steal there.

Passwords to other websites like fora are medium - letters and numbers - I reuse number combinations and keywords but no site has the same pwd.

My TrueCrypt files are maximum security - a long passphrase. There I use the same. It was difficult enough to find one I could easily remember.

I've had to use the 'forgot password' link on several rarely used sites already. Each time I resolve to make a master pwd file stored under TrueCrypt protection - and each time I promptly forget about it again...
A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read. (Mark Twain)
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Message 1340344 - Posted: 22 Feb 2013, 18:44:55 UTC - in response to Message 1340337.  

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.


Rather, never save an unencrypted pwd on a computer.
I don't think anybody is going to break through a 1024 bit TrueCrypt key in a hurry.

I distingush between low, medium and high security passwords.
Gaming all get they same low-security easily memorable pwd - there's nothing to steal there.

Passwords to other websites like fora are medium - letters and numbers - I reuse number combinations and keywords but no site has the same pwd.

My TrueCrypt files are maximum security - a long passphrase. There I use the same. It was difficult enough to find one I could easily remember.

I've had to use the 'forgot password' link on several rarely used sites already. Each time I resolve to make a master pwd file stored under TrueCrypt protection - and each time I promptly forget about it again...

All My important ones each have their own passwords, but that's why I created a text file in notepad and store them on a 4GB stick attached to My keyboard.
The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's
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Message 1340376 - Posted: 22 Feb 2013, 20:10:25 UTC

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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Message 1340381 - Posted: 22 Feb 2013, 20:21:28 UTC

58


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Message 1340382 - Posted: 22 Feb 2013, 20:23:41 UTC

My old ten-digit military password has been invaluable, in various
combinations. One never forgets it. ;o)

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Message 1340396 - Posted: 22 Feb 2013, 21:10:29 UTC

Let me add that my password at work is totally unrelated to anything personal.

David
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Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

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Message 1340397 - Posted: 22 Feb 2013, 21:11:02 UTC

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 :)
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Message 1340407 - Posted: 22 Feb 2013, 21:39:55 UTC

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.
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Message 1340421 - Posted: 22 Feb 2013, 22:13:39 UTC - in response to Message 1340337.  

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.


Rather, never save an unencrypted pwd on a computer.
I don't think anybody is going to break through a 1024 bit TrueCrypt key in a hurry.

I distingush between low, medium and high security passwords.
Gaming all get they same low-security easily memorable pwd - there's nothing to steal there.

Passwords to other websites like fora are medium - letters and numbers - I reuse number combinations and keywords but no site has the same pwd.

My TrueCrypt files are maximum security - a long passphrase. There I use the same. It was difficult enough to find one I could easily remember.

I've had to use the 'forgot password' link on several rarely used sites already. Each time I resolve to make a master pwd file stored under TrueCrypt protection - and each time I promptly forget about it again...


Everything can be hacked.
Sony is a good example and i dont think those guys are stupid.



With each crime and every kindness we birth our future.
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Message 1340435 - Posted: 22 Feb 2013, 22:49:02 UTC - in response to Message 1340337.  

Rather, never save an unencrypted pwd on a computer.
I don't think anybody is going to break through a 1024 bit TrueCrypt key in a hurry.

A 1024 bit key is now considered insecure. IIRC there was a BOINC project set up to break such keys.

However in the case of a thief, they are standing in front of your computer, the one you left on to crunch. That means the volume is already unlocked. Consider that.

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