Passwords 101
Thu Jun 8, 2006 6:03PM EDT
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Here's some of the best advice on passwords I've found. It comes from Steve Bass at PC World, who starts off with this tip:
Change your email account password if you are going away and using public PCs in Internet cafes or libraries. Then change it again when you get home. That way, if the systems are infested with spyware and keylogger programs, which track keystrokes (including passwords), hackers will have short-term access to your email password.
He dispatches the tried-and-true counsel to mix up letters, symbols and numbers when creating passwords. But he also recommends some password-creation software:
• The WinGuides Network Web-based tool that you can download here.
• Steve Gibson's Perfect Passwords, which provides unique, "high-quality, cryptographic-strength password strings" every time someone clicks on the site.
• RoboForm—Bass' personal favorite, it creates passwords and securely remembers them. Hands down, it's the best tool for storing all your user ID and password data for Web sites, he writes. High praise.
You can find a trial version of the $30 program in PC World's Downloads library. There's also a USB version of RoboForm, called Pass2Go, that allows you to use your passwords on someone else's PC without leaving your password info on the PC.
Some good advice, especially since the little notebook I keep my passwords in is getting full. How do you manage your passwords?
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2 Posted by jachamp on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:26PM EDT Report Abuse
i use mathematical formulas mixed with names or dates
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3 Posted by j_cutler2001 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:45PM EDT Report Abuse
Hi! Creating passwords to me is a no problem. I don't know what this hanky panky about creating and managing passwords is all about. I spent 60 hours online every month and have no complaints about all these passwords hanky panky. I bet that these passwords programs are a nuisance to end users and using them can be troublesome to end users. In other words end users must keep away from using these password managers.
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4 Posted by meineinstein99 on Wed Jul 5, 2006 4:54PM EDT Report Abuse
It's funny - I also have to change passwords every 90 days on several systems at my work. I use the twiddle fingers method. I twiddle my fingers in a pleasing fashion, and when I get a pattern I like, I add a couple of numbers to it, and Voila, my new password. I have to change it on so many systems, I've memorized the twiddle by the end of the day. I also play piano by this method. :-)
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5 Posted by rsdavis_007 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:54PM EDT Report Abuse
Can you tell me if my yahoo account has been terminated?
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1 Posted by ebworthen on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:51PM EDT Report Abuse
If you don't want to buy software do this: choose the name of an old pet or nickname and break it up with some numbers. Let's say it's "Sammy" for your dead goldfish. Add five numbers so you have a ten character password. Use the date Sammy died, mix the lettters in: 1s1a2M6my06 Make sure you capitalize one of the middle letters. That will be a tough one for anyone to guess or crack. Another tip: if the geeks at work make you reset your password every 30-90 days just add a number to the end each time: baklava1 then baklava2 then baklava3. I know, not so secure, but it's more secure than yourself and everyone else writing their password on a sticky note stuck in plain view because there's too many passwords to remember! I suppose software would work, but it could get hacked just as easily (or more easily) than a good password you can remember.