Where do you keep your passwords?

[Raven]

I have dozens that I have accumulated over the years. They are scrawled all over a yellowing piece of lined paper that I keep in my desk. This morning I thought about what a mess I would be in if I lost that paper. What do you guys do about your passwords?

[Scuba]

1. I use the same one for everything and had it published in the local paper so I won't forget it.

[mercymechap]

36. That's too funny! LOL!

[hobbit709]

2. I keep them inside the most secure location of all-inside my skull.

I do keep a text file on an encrypted flash drive in case something happens to me and my brother needs access to my accounts. He has the key.

[Earth_First]

5. Same here...

I keep a flash drive of all documents and passwords needed to pay bills, access medical records etc. available to only my wife and I and one other third party.

[Raven]

6. My skull is definately not a secure location:-)

[onehandle]

3. I use 1password. It syncs them between my Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Available for Windows/Android too.

It is absolutely the best password app out there.

https://agilebits.com/onepassword

[Raven]

7. I thought you weren't supposed to

use 1 password for everything in case it got stolen.

[Paulie]

9. Ha! Name of the program.

You set a really hard password to lock the database, which you use to open it.

I have hundreds of passwords (I work in the computer field). What's great about 1password is I let it generate long completely random passwords for each site I visit. Then I hit a key combination, type in the one hard password for the database and it fills in the random one on the site.

It can sync via Dropbox so if I change a password on my computer it will show on my iPhone.

There are other solutions too. Keypass, lastpass.

1password also has a feature where you can read your database with any web browser. Great if you travel and don't have the software on that particular computer.

[Duer 157099]

11. But what if the database is hacked?

It seems to me that the only non-hackable format is paper. At least so far...

[Paulie]

25. Paper is worse. You lose it, burns, coffee spills on it, burglar takes it!

The database is on your own machine. Pick a really good password and there isn't really a problem. Would take centuries to crack. A piece of paper has zero safety.

[Wait Wut]

28. That's what my boss uses.

I really need to do that soon. I've had to change all my passwords this past week and I'm confused as all hell.

[cliffordu]

4. I have one password

The serial number to the rifle I used in Vietnam, with two small modifications.

[Phentex]

8. Most are memorized but I have a bazillion...

I never use the same password anywhere and for some reason I tend to create random nonsense combos of numbers and letters. It's easier for me to remember 10 numbers and one letter than words with a few numbers.

I have an old notebook I kept some in but then I got tired of leafing through it to look for the password to the oddball place I ordered from years ago. I finally organized them into an address book and that has made it much easier to look up passwords.

A friend just told me she kept all of hers on her computer. She would be screwed if the computer died! She just had an issue with a log in and had asked me where I keep my passwords.

[In_The_Wind]

10. If I tell you then I will have to kill you.

[pipi_k]

12. They're all

in a spiral hardcover notebook next to my computer.

I have other information in there as well, such as bank/credit card numbers, instructions for using computer programs I seldom use (because I forget how to use them) and, of course, passwords. They're separated into categories, and alphabetized.

Some places want you to use a combination of letters and numbers. Some want passwords longer than 8 letters/numbers. A couple of my sites even make me change my password every few months.

anyway, I found out one really cool way to remember a password that absolutely has to be a combination of letters and numbers...

use any number you want...say the last two numbers of your birth year are "70". So you type in the 7 and then go down to either of the two letters beneath the 7 which would be either Y or U. Type that in, then continue down in the diagonal. If you typed in Y, the next letter down would be H, then N. For the zero, do the same thing except you have to go to the left...O, K, and M.

Real easy to remember. Add another symbol at the end, like maybe the & above the original number 7 if you want for extra security.

I even took photos of all the password pages just in case I lost the book itself.

[lastlib]

17. You're WAY too organized!!

.

[pipi_k]

26. Only

for some things, though.

My closet looks like a hoarder's paradise.

[union_maid]

13. What I use a lot is...

...that link that says, "Forgot your password?".

But right now I kind of have a forumla. I have three basic passwords and then some variations on those, all consisting of numbers and letters that refer to something I can remember but have nothing to do with anything anyone might guess, like addresses, birthdays or that kind of thing. They're all most obscure than those things. Then I tack on some letters at the end that refer in some way to the site I'm using it for, making it a unique password. I use a simpler format for forums, free web services that don't have my credit card info, etc. I use a longer one for anything that involves money and a totally different one for Meta (you should excuse the expression) kinds of things, like a Google account, which might provide access to all my information, plus things I don't even know about myself yet.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

14. on a rolodex that sits next to my computer

most just as hints as to what the password would be....Of course, there have been mornings when the 'hints' don't make any sense....
but for the most part it works.

[In_The_Wind]

21. there have been mornings when

[Sekhmets Daughter]

22. Know the feeling do you?

[In_The_Wind]

23. all too well

[img][/img]

[LiberalEsto]

15. I bought an inexpensive address book at Big Lots

which has been a goddess-send.

[Xyzse]

16. I have 9 rotating passwords in my head

One of which is 26 characters.

I switch my accounts with one of those 9 passwords every few months.

[CabalPowered]

18. Encrypted usb sticks

One is always in use, and it backs up to another stick at the end of the week. The backup stays in a decent fireproof cash box. At the end of every year, I make another backup and give it to a family member.

Kingston data traveler locker is what I've been using..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820239319

[NewJeffCT]

19. I guess I'm weird

I keep them in my head.

[hunter]

20. Spot keeps them for me.

I try not to forget them because he mocks me when I have to ask.

Spot never forgets.

[Blue Diadem]

24. Small spiral notebook of index cards.

I found one with the cover made of plastic/vinyl of some sort, easy to wipe off if something spills.

[talkingmime]

31. I've got one of those too, but I use it for another purpose.

[Mopar151]

46. Yep-r!

[csziggy]

27. I have a folder with dozens of pieces of paper with passwords on them

Stuck in a rack behind the computer. The trick is, I never throw away the old pages when I change passwords and they date back at least 15-20 years. I can tell which one is the most recent, but someone who is trying to get into the accounts will go nuts trying out all the old ones.

And the current passwords for the financial accounts are not in that notebook - they are somewhere else though some of the old passwords for those accounts are in there.

I do have to write down my passwords. I've found that after every surgery, my memory is more worthless. With three surgeries just last year, keeping a written record is essential.

[Neoma]

29. They're in my head.

[talkingmime]

30. I got a nice (really nice) journal-type ring notebook, not spiral, full rings.

I try to keep it organized so if I die (likely given my medical condition) my wife can get into our bank accounts, access my e-mail accounts (of which there are many), keep our 90 or so domain names alive, pay the bills, and generally gain access to all that I am. I'm not worried about a burglar stealing the notebook. We have dogs.

[Bucky]

32. They're secretly embedded in my DU sigfile

made ya look

[onehandle]

34. You haven't got shit in your bank account.

Hardly worth de-embedding your sigfile.

[Iggo]

33. In my head.

Lots and lots of 'em.

[olddots]

35. passwords ?

I'm supposed to use passwords ?

[mercymechap]

37. I keep a tablet by my computer

with all my e-mail addresses, names I used and passwords, also whatever information I supplied at the time as it may be different from others. I couldn't possibly remember what info I gave on each one. Don't criticize me, I have a real e-mail with my real name and real info, too that I use with "real" people!

I try to use the same password, but some sites don't like that it's too simple and I have to keep adding numbers and capital letters, so how would I remember that? When I travel I take my laptop and my tablet. It would be awful if I lost them both at the same time.

I'd have to start over, I guess.

[MicaelS]

38. A spreadsheet.

Different password for every website that requires a login. Easy to copy and paste.

Complex passwords (up to 64 characters including punctuation and special characters) created using a small, lightweight tool:

PC Tools Password Utilities 1.0.0.5. No installer.

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Security/Password-Managers-Generators/PC-Tools-Password-Utilities.shtml

[HeiressofBickworth]

39. I have scraps of paper iin the drawer under my computer

I haven't been consistent in identifying which website they go to however, so if it's a site I don't visit very often, it might take a few minutes to figure it out. But it's all there.

[mainstreetonce]

40. This is the way I remember passwords

I pick one word ..let's say a food...meatball ...then I change the first two letters to match the site so do DU would be Dueatball. In my notes I would just write DU plus food.

Important financial sites would be completely different.

[mnhtnbb]

41. Not to worry. Most sites will e-mail you a password change option.

But, yes, I get the problem. And yes, I have a notebook full
of passwords for sites I seldom visit. I have no problem
with the ones I visit regularly, like DU. And I do have
all different passwords for the sites I regularly visit.

[Incitatus]

42. In my head.

There is a standard password (random created but I've been using it for years so I'm not forgetting it) and in addition a combination of numbers and characters based on the account I am accessing.

If you have to write them down, I would suggest either omitting the last 3 or 4 characters on the sheet, but keep them the same so you would remember them, or writing a few random characters at the beginning or end that you will ignore as not part of the password.

[becca da bakkah]

43. In Jon Hamm's Penis!

[Locrian]

44. KeePass Password Safe

Free, works great. Carry it on a USB (and make backups of the file).



http://keepass.info/

[LiberalFighter]

45. I use LastPass and

my Thunderbird Address Book. I don't use the default Personal Address Book to keep them. They are in a different folder.