Poll of the Day > Do people actually *remember* all their passwords? What do you do?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I won't lie, I used to be a very naughty computer user with the same password (or variant) for basically every site, even though I know it's bad. Finally I decided to go and give my accounts unique passwords, but man, there are a lot of them. They say you're supposed to have passwords that are unique and that you can remember, but you gotta be some kind of savant to keep track with how many different sites there are these days.

Writing them down just seems equally risky as using the same one everywhere, at least if you do it in a digital file that somebody could potentially get access to. I know they have password manager software, but you can't really trust anything these days to be immune from hacking. It might be too inconvenient to deal with in the long run but for now I'm just going with good old fashioned paper.

Password managers are the last thing I'd ever want to use since it seems like you're giftwrapping them up for the hackers in one easy spot.

To answer your question, I use variations of the same basic password

If it's a bank account or something else important, I use different passwords (they also have 2 step authorization).

I have a few passwords for less important stuff.

So all together, I probably have about 10-15 passwords. I have them all memorized
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Ultima_Dragoon posted...

Password managers are the last thing I'd ever want to use since it seems like you're giftwrapping them up for the hackers in one easy spot

My gf has/had a password manager on her PC. She had PC issues, and couldn't access her passwords that we're stored in there. She doesn't really have any passwords memorized lol
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I have two passwords that I use for basically everything. If its not one, its the other one.

Idk how anybody can really guess somebodys password unless its incredibly obvious.

If they all didn't have to follow specific rules for each site, it would be much better. Let people make whatever kind of password they want without restricting them by making them use 2 uppercase, 2 lower, 2 number, 2 symbols, and the blood of your first born just for one password. I know they try to do that to help people keep their stuff secure, but I don't want it so secure that I can't even get in. If people make passwords that are easy to guess, then that is kind of on them. And tbh, the ones who would make easy to guess passwords are sometimes the ones who would have to write the more complicated passwords down to remember. Even at my job on base, people save their password for a specific site in their emails. And most of the time, it's just a couple line down the keyboard on way, and then again with shift...

Personally, I use the same basis for most of my passwords, but switch it a little for each site. Though, I use the same one for certain groups. Like all the passwords for the bills are the same, for instance...
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green dragon posted...

they also have 2 step authorization

Apple has this, and it's the worst. I can't log into my own account because I don't have a phone right now. So, I had had to do this process where I can log on even without another connected device, but it kinda sucks... I can't verify it's me even though I have the email address, password, credit card info, access to the email address, and other info. Why ask me all of it if you still won't verify it's me?
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I hate this new special character bullshit sites are starting to use. I've had to reset my passwords several times now because I couldn't remember there was supposed to be a special character.

party_animal07 posted...

I hate this new special character bullshit sites are starting to use. I've had to reset my passwords several times now because I couldn't remember there was supposed to be a special character.

This happens, too. I also have trouble when I don't remember the requirements. Then, when I have to reset and I see the requirements, I can sometimes remember what it was...
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green dragon posted...

So all together, I probably have about 10-15 passwords. I have them all memorized

I see. I just created like 30 passwords but I figure there are only maybe like five that I might log in with frequently and I can probably remember five eventually.

MICHALECOLE posted...

Idk how anybody can really guess somebodys password unless its incredibly obvious.

I don't know, I guess I'd be more worried about hacking or something. When I think about it, if one of my PW got hacked then they'd likely all be vulnerable (assuming it would be more likely to be a keylogger or something, since most sites nowadays have decent protection from brute-force hackings), but it couldn't hurt having a variation.

Zangulus posted...

Other: I use a database software to safe keep my passwords.

I'd consider that to fall under having them written down somewhere. I can't even really think of a reasonable scenario that would fall under "Other" but I included the option so people wouldn't bitch

Other could be they make a unique password for everything, but they also forget almost all of them...

I remember one time, while working for UPS, I started making passwords using only numbers that were like A LOT of characters. The number would correlate with letters to write out a sentence...
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How do you remember the password for your database?

I dont even come up with my passwords anymore

I just use apples suggest password option
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Password manager for some stuff, spreadsheets for others, backups here and there, and I think I have a few written in hidden locations. Most of the big stuff I just memorize, though.

I'd say that I've memorized two dozen passwords. For junk sites, I'll reuse passwords. All of my email addresses have a unique password.
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I used to use the same one for literally everything. But then all these stupid hacks started happening, and I kept getting asked to change my password. Now I've got to keep them saved so I can go back and look them up.
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For sites you frequent, you could make them easier to memorize.

Still , use a database to keep them organized. So your passwords are not just in a plaintext file that anyone can open and read.
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Zangulus posted...

Because that's protected by a password, and not just "written down somewhere" where anyone can find it.

But it is stored somewhere, so I think that answer applies.

Whatevs
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Ultima_Dragoon posted...

To answer your question, I use variations of the same basic password

I have pretty unique passwords for my work account, and they require I change it every 3 months. And it can't have more then 2 characters similar to the previous 20 passwords. And it has to contain one letter, one number, and one symbol. And it has to be at least 10 characters. And I have to verify all logins on my phone (which requires a pin to unlock). Yea, work has some crazy password requirements but it is probably due to the security clearances I am given.

For the rest of the passwords, it depends on how "important" the account is. For something that has credit card information or access to a game library I use a pretty secure (30+ characters) password and two step authentication. For something like a message board it is usually pretty simple (< 10 characters) and easy to remember.
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Chewster posted...

What do you do with passwords?

Most my passwords are the same for most things. Others have the a extra number or letter added to them for reasons. I certainly don't remember all my passwords as some things I have I haven't used in years.
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I use a similar password for almost all of my accounts.

On a related note, my eBay acct got recently hacked. Some person tried to buy a bunch of PC hardware and a very realistic dildo with it.

FourthDimension posted...

On a related note, my eBay acct got recently hacked. Some person tried to buy a bunch of PC hardware and a very realistic dildo with it.

Sure, that's what they all say when somebody else in the house realizes a package with a dildo just showed up...

eBay blocked the purchase though

I have several passwords and rarely change them.
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Dikitain posted...

I have pretty unique passwords for my work account, and they require I change it every 3 months. And it can't have more then 2 characters similar to the previous 20 passwords. And it has to contain one letter, one number, and one symbol. And it has to be at least 10 characters. And I have to verify all logins on my phone (which requires a pin to unlock). Yea, work has some crazy password requirements but it is probably due to the security clearances I am given.

For the rest of the passwords, it depends on how "important" the account is. For something that has credit card information or access to a game library I use a pretty secure (30+ characters) password and two step authentication. For something like a message board it is usually pretty simple (< 10 characters) and easy to remember.

My job has something similar for an account we have to have. I think it was also every 3 months, as well... It has to have at least 2 numbers, 2 uppercase letters, 2 lowercase letters, & 2 symbols. It also has to be 18 characters long. For a time, it had to be exactly 18. No more, no less. It might still be like that. And it couldn't match any of the last like 12 passwords. Which sucked since you usually couldn't even remember you last 5. So people had a rotating list they would use. And most would just pick nine key to type with and without shift for 18. It works, I guess...
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I have about five different passwords I use across various sites. For the most part I remember them, but I have hints for them written down in case I forget. My work and bank accounts all have their own unique passwords that are not written down in any way.
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Lol I couldn't log in to Xbox Live on my 360 because it will only let you enter 15 characters. Then why was I able to change it to more than 15 (on the MS website) in the first place? Good job Microsoft

I have 6 passwords that I rotate through.
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