What's your secret for remembering passwords and logins?
 

My wife, my wife, my wife......

Bless her heart, she just can NOT remember all her logins and passwords. She can't remember ANY of them, for that matter. She is a very, very security-conscious person, and makes damned sure that she uses different login names and different passwords for each internet "presence." Usually, when she wants to show me something she found on the internet, it ends up with me falling asleep in the chair behind her while she frantically scrambles to remember her logins and passwords. Her e-mail inbox is overflowing with replies from various websites giving her a new password, which she promptly changes, and then promptly forgets again.

On the other hand, I'm very careless about security. I basically have three login names that I use everywhere, and three passwords that I rotate among the three logins. If I forget one, there's only a finite number of possibilities for me to try before I get it right.

Last night, I was trying to pay our Verizon bill over the phone like we always do when she excitedly told me she'd set it up on the internet so we can pay it that way. Right away, I got a little worried. Sure enough, after she triumphantly marched to the computer and went to the Verizon site, it asked for a login and password. When I saw her shoulders slump, I leaned back and took a nap. Eventually, they e-mailed her a new password (which she changed, of course), and we were able to pay the bill. I told her to write down the new password, but I think her security-sense prevents her from leaving a written trail of passwords for an intruder (or snooping in-law) to obtain.

What do the rest of you do? With an ever-increasing number of sites asking for logins and passwords, do you recycle the same ones in order to keep it simple, or do you go overboard with security (and how do you remember, if that's the case)?

Just use the same username and password,

Its fine imho unless you start telling people etc(obviously ;) )

I have 3 passwords I use...one for bill paying,ebay, or anything that involves money in some way....one for message board logins and one for all my email accounts

I have the attention span of a fruitfly... and suffer from a bad case of CRS (Can't Remember Squat) The only accounts I'm very security conscious with is online banking and credit cards (and shame on me - -they're all the same account names and passwords) other accounts, like Salon, Slate and a few other places I go, I always use the same account name and password)

Yeah... same username and password works well... I keep 2 passwords though.. one covers high-security things, and the other for not so important things.

items like forums or basic registrations all get 1 of 3 passwords.

items like banking, CC, paypal, ebay, all get a random set of letters & numbers that for the most part I have memorized but still write them down on paper that I keep handy.

anything else gets a age old password i've had since like 5th grade for school computers.

I tend to use the same passwords, sometimes with slight variation.

I also use Firefox at home, and that'll keep most usernames/passwords remembered :thumbsup:

The password I use most often is over 13 characters long, alpha-numeric. I've used it for years. It was the number on some card I used to use a lot a long time ago, and the number just stuck. I love it, I can tell any of my friends what my password is and there's no way any of them can remember it.

When I look "up". ;)

If your password is on this List of Common and Especially Bad Passwords (too long to quote inline here), you are well advised to consider creating a new one.

I have three or four logins and two passwords. One for high-security, and one for other stuff.

i have variants of passwords and misspellings of favorite words... I have about 5 of them to cycle through.

I use Firefox that remembers all the passwords but I also use the same password for everything. Nobody, however, will ever get that code.

I have about five or six passwords that I use. I rotate them liberally between my various accounts.

As for usernames... I have only one or two (and a couple variations, i.e. Charlatan001 if Charlatan is taken).

I used to use a different one for all my internet accounts but that became way too unwieldy so now I have just two. I use a phone # I had when I was in high school (a LONG time ago!) and a strange/funnny name I made up. Keeps it easy to remember.

Quite often I will use the a word that describes a recent event in my life, and then add to it a special character (usually the same one) and a combo of numbers.

IE:

Just before or just after vacation my password might be: *Bea(h123
or if I was to have a birthday it might be: *0LdMan789

Since I have to change my access pwd at work every 14 days this is very handy (I never used either of those btw. :)

I use extremely complex passwords for my banking access, but it is typically still based on a real word, but changed enough that a dictionary cracker could not break it. Common english words are the first ones cracked. For example, take a word like "deliveryboy" and add a few numbers and punctuation marks and you get: D3liv3r7b0799

Finally when it comes to passwords that use very rarely go ahead and write them down, but for crissakes do not write down, "Bankpassword=D3liv3r7b0799" and carry it around in your wallet. Wrtie down the password BY ITSELF and store it someplace innocuous like on the back of a recipie card in the kitchen.

Well that's my two cents. later.

I use phrases that have very VERY little to do with the username/password being remembered.

For example, one of the phrases is "Sailor Man".

That might lead a cracker to start working on Popeye, OliveOil or various permutations.

Nothing could be farther from the true password.

Oh no! "willow" is on that list. :eek: But, fortunately, "willow4evr" isn't. Neither is "alyson", or "hannigan".
:rolleyes:

Get real. Do you really think that I'm that pathetic?
Never mind.

*tries to log in as Bill, fails*
:D

Keep a database of all your login/passes and what they go to. MS Access is pretty handy for small stuff like that. That's also how I keep up with people's emails, instead of entering a bunch of crap into address books every time I keep them in a seperate db. Of course you'd want to secure it some kind of way.

I don't have any trouble remembering them. But I also remember all of my credit card numbers and most of the phone numbers I've ever had.

I just can't remember the ride to work today or whether or not there is any food in the fridge.

I have a selection of vintage alcohol bottles on a shelf in my room. Corresponding right to left, they match my favorites list from top to bottom, and each one has an "interesting memory" that brings up what the password is.

I suffer from CRS too .Heh :p

So it's 2 or 3 username and passwords. Like most people I guess. Since I don't do internet banking, or deal with money online, that's okay.

But I might have to change if money comes into play.

I've got a convention I used for most stuff. There are about a dozen work passwords I have to remember, because I have no control over them.. they change I keep up.

For everything I do control I keep a couple words and number sets I rotate through.
Depending on how important the account I'm trying to use, I use words and numbers.

For example:
"username"
"password"
Same username and password I'd generally use, no numbers on the password.
if it's got stricter rules, or needs to be more secure:
"Username"
"password0000"
Now I've capitalized the first letter in the username, different than a low sec account, and I've added one of the two sets of numbers I always add.
If it's a really strict account, with capitals, and special characters required, I usually end up with:
"Username1111*"
"Password00001111*"
That will generally meet the most strict ID and Pass rules out there. Both the ID and Password are now alphanumeric, have capitals and lowercase, and have at least one special character, and are rather long too boot.

Even when I compeltely forget what I'm supposed to be typing in, I can usually get in, in less than 3 tries, because as long as I stuck to my convention, and I have a reasonable idea of what the username is, I'll get it.

i have a bah-zillion passwords. each is very unique.
not sure how, but i do remember them all.
then again, i know my 16 digit credit card # by heart, my hubby's & my own SSN, all 3 of our license plate #s, dozens of phone#s, snail addys, email addys, birthdays, etc.

just call me rain woman, i guess. ;)

but just to be sure, i have all of my passwords written down in one place.
old skool stylee, pen & paper.

Wait, everyone who posted on this thread ( including me ) is basically telling the world some information about their passwords.

Now that can't be good password practise, right?

not unless you know my warped mind enuff to guess one of my 3...and that would be damned near impossible for most people lol

Hmm, I'll try. One of them got something to do with BDSM? :D

nope...not even close hehehehe

use a common form to create a password, that only you know..

nice examples of this would be to take a word, then take every third letter and replace it with the number that corresponds to the letter in the alphabet..

e.g.: tfprocks = tf16ro3ks <-- now that password looks messed up

granted, since I mentioned this here, I would recommend using a different letter rather than the 3rd , but this way if you forget, it is easy to remember it, since then you can have some common passwords, that will meet some of the most strict guidelines.

although, if you are really paranoid, you could put a number at the beginning and add that number to the number of each letter so it appears to shift everything *shrugs*..

also, if your access file is really secure, that is a decent way for the very forgetful, just don't store it in "Shared Documents" ;)

All my user names are Paradise Lost, ParadiseLost, or Paradise_Lost, all my passwords are
extremely simple, cause it's not like any of the sites I am registered at have any real
information that people could steal and use against me... :) Cept maybe my Cheers avatar!

My computer remembers all mine. And then rest that don't have to do with a computer are the same.

I'd go with Barry Manilow or Neil Diamond song :)

hehehehe nope....see there ARE things about me some people dont know ahahahaha

One pass word for all my internet accounts. I don't care and I'm lazy, that's my secret :D

I use my own system for passwords.
I have the same username for everything (Anxst or a variation thereof).

I then look at what site I'm making a password for. What odd thing does it make me think of?

I then use that phrase in sentence, and write the sentence down.

Then I translate that sentence into Irish Gaelic. Please note Irish Gaelic will pretty much always twist the word order around from English. A lot.

Take the third or fifth word of the sentence, whichever is longer. Change the vowels into numbers (I have my own system for this).

There's your password, as well as a coded system for paper storage. And I dare someone to break that sucker.

at my work, i have about 6 different passwords for things I use all the time. I'd say that, in total, I have about 12 different passwords for everyday stuff that I rotate whenever I have to change one due to time limits.

I'm like many that use variations of the same username and password.

I only have two different user names.. and I use the same password for everything. It's just easier that way.

i have for the most part 2 passwords but occasionally youll find a site that wants 6+ character pass' (mines 5) and ill make variations. Most logins i have are one of 4 things as well so i do ok for the most part

87,000 different websites want a username and password...keep it simple, just use the same one over and over. None of it is really secure anyway.

I used to have this problem (being a network/security administrator, I've got a shitload of logins/passwords - and I try to keep them all seperate). I discovered a truly awesome tool to help me out:

Password Safe: Free, cryptographically secure, and very easy to use. Now I just remember one or two passwords and leave the usernames & passwords to my couple dozen devices listed in the password safe :)

I tend to use 3 logins and rotate passwords.. always the most secure sites getting the newest password and trickling down the old password as needed so I usually only have 3 to remember

I store all of my passwords in a program that syncs with my palm. SplashID

I use norton's password manager. It records all of your passwords for you as well as autofills your personal information for you. Only need one user id/password for the password manager itself, the rest are all "rememored" by the norton's password manager...

One for internet accounts, one for stuff with financial information, and a floppy disk with and encryption key on it for important stuff. Good luck figuring out which of the 300+ unlabeled disks strewn around my desk isn't really blank.

I stick with 3 grades of password.
1: Forums and online registry. I use the same one for ease of use and identity.

2: Sites and Progams I want a little security on. Usually 1 of 3 different ones or something related to the task. eg: A router support login might be Rout3r1, psw sw1tchOver

3: Secure: My work and email accounts in particular. Banking too.
as these are most important I try and stick with a memorised phrase to remember all the different ones I've had.
eg: Phrase = "Kids like to play..." and the password will finish the phrase.

Much easier to remember. #3 grades like that.

I have three email accounts I use, and the password I use for a site is the password for the email account that I used to sign up for the site. I save all the emails from when I join a site, so I know which pass to use. If the site uses a unique password I save that email. The password I use is usually a sentence where I take the first letters of each word or something similar.

Generally I have three login names and two passwords that I use interchangably. There are a couple of exceptions (such as this site), but on the whole, it doesn't take me very long to figure out which goes where.

My secret. Same password everywhere. Really old password too, from like 8th grade. Something that wouldn't make sense to other people. Just a private joke.

I try to find random numbers containing a few zeros. I use those, but substitute the letter o for the zero from time to time. It's not as complicated as it may seem and you get a lot of passwords that are easy to remember but difficult to guess.
(Typing and correcting this message I just realized how dependent I am on Spellcheck, but that is a topic for another day.)

I usually select a line from a song and create an acronym from the first letter of the words, and terminate the acronym with a bang (!) to create the often required complexity.

For example....my last password at work was an acronym of:

This is the story of a girl

translates to:

titsoag!

I have never forgotten the verse of sentence I needed to remember, and with that info....bang...insta password.

-bear

Use a few different pws and logins, depending on the complexity needed. Usually takes me a few guesses to get em open, but I usually figure it out. ;)

COL SANDURZ: One, two, three, four, five.
SKROOB: One, two, three, four, five? That's amazing. I've got the same combination on my luggage.

:D

my dad... that and its part of my old login name :D

I have to remember 5 or 6 different passwords at work so at home I try to keep them to a minimum. I have basically 4 I use for various levels of security. I try not to do too much on line that would matter if it got hacked.

I come up with a set of 3 different passwords or pin numbers and use them interchanably for everything.I will change the set a couple times a year.It's easier to remember just 3 combo's.

So ok i see most people have 2- 5 usernames and about the same # of passwords that they change about according to there own precautions or fears about the internet security. i fall in the same category i have only read 3 or 4 people that have 1 for everyone different place or use a extremely secure way of protecting there identity. So i have a little different spin on this question. How many of you have had or know someone who has had there identity stolen. I mean stolen not given out by you thru some email scam or being stupid. Someone found out and decrypted your stuff and used it maliciously. Does this really happen? of course we all saw the commercials from citi bank but really do people really come on to the boards or other places choose 1 individual user me or you or troplle or maverick or anyone and say i don’t know this person but ill bet they are dumber than me and therefore i can crack there user id and password to bank one or household or Citibank or union planters (they would also have to guess witch financial institution you use) and just start cracking your stuff..... Suppose someone did do this would they go down the list of 100 trillion websites and try everyone till they milked you absolutely clean of evry resource you have diligently worked to earn. That is my question. I understand the need to have 2 or 3 to keep your spouse in-laws nosey kid’s people that you know out. But do strangers really try to be you?

I use totally different usernames for everything, but my password is usually exactly the same or some variation of that same password that I will remember easily.

I simply use the same password everywhere. In cases there that's not possible I have a password protected spreadsheet that I use to capture them. :thumbsup:

One rule I follow is to also use a combination of letters and special characters + a number to make a word I can easily remember. For Example:

G0R3D$04 = Go Reds with a zero for the letter "O", a 3 for the letter "e" and (obviously) a dollar sign for "S".

Just two user names typically and the password part can be made quite easy. Just use a word you like but insert a meaningful numbr in the middle.

I use the same user and I rotate 4 passwords which I can interconnect, password1+password2...

To keep security tighter I also use a different emailadress. If they get hacked and someone tries to use the password with my emailadress (login, spam, etc) I know which site has been compromised and what information has been compromised...

I have a 20 character passwrd i use for any logins involving money, otherwise i use another one everywhere else.

Well, here's a thought as to why you should use different passwords: The people who get the usernames/passwords for the links board normally get them through proxies/etc. - and so if you're using any of those, and they happen to scoop up a username/password from someone who uses the same combination for everything, it wouldn't take a lot of work for an unscrupulous person to go and check various banks and webmail services with that username/password and see if any work.

I'll gladly take a bit of inconvenience (remembering all of my different passwords or using the Password Safe program I linked to above) over having someone break into one of my accounts. Sure, "I don't have anything important" in there, but it's a peace of mind issue - and I'm a network security professional. :)

For my personal passwords, I've never had a problem remembering them. Usually I just type them over and over, and they become muscle memory. I've got... 4 of them, ranging from things I don't care about to a 16 character random string.
Heh, I just tried to remember that random string, and couldn't until I typed it.

Honestly, I'm surprised my password isn't on that list. :lol: Believe it or not my password for everything before used to just be my name, Zachary. Lol I'm an idiot. :P

I take the initials of a favorite item (movie, song, etc), combine it with a coded representation of the month & date that I made the password, and then add punctuation.

Nice thing is that it's very easy to change passwords periodically, as well as to guess older passwords!!

Try using the same password from site to site that's an easy to remember one.

Or if it's a site that provides the password just copy it from the e-mail or whatever and paste it to the slot each time you feel like logging in. This way you dont even have to waste your time trying to remember the password. :thumbsup: