| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: How many different passwords do you use? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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John Cutler 
Spain
Local time: 18:01
Spanish to English
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| Password rules | May 7, 2007 |
PAS wrote:
Like Andrea's mine are variations, but I still break the rules and use password combinations considered unsafe (dates, names etc.) At least I disguise them a little and throw in some extra stuff like capital and small letters in unnatural combinations and some non-letter characters.
Pawel Skalinski
I read a silly joke the other day that went like this:
“While my brother-in-law was tapping away on his home computer, his ten-year-old daughter sneaked up behind him. Then she turned and ran into the kitchen, squealing to the rest of the family, "I know Daddy's password! I know Daddy's password!"
"What is it? Her sisters asked eagerly.
Proudly she replied, "Asterisk, asterisk, asterisk, asterisk, asterisk!"
After reading the joke, I thought, “Wouldn’t it be great if it was always so easy to remember a computer or Internet password?” For some people it is I suppose, but for me it’s akin to remembering all those dates and names of Kings, Queens and Presidents we studied in history class. It would be easier to remember them if I could use common sense but apparently that goes against the basic rules of security. Here are a few of the basic rules for choosing a password that have made my life a constant sudoku exercise…
Rule no. 1 Don’t use the same password all the time. Ok, now that I use a cell phone and I don’t need to remember telephone numbers any longer, you would think I would be able to invent and remember the 3 or 4 passwords I use on a daily basis.
Rule no. 2 Don’t use the initials of family members. But my question is: “Who in their right mind is going to use the initials of a bunch of strangers?”
Rule no. 3 Don’t use your birthday. I guess I could use my wife’s birthday instead but I get a yearly scolding for forgetting it, so now should I have to try to remember it everyday and get a daily instead of yearly scolding?
Rule no. 4 It should include a mix of letters and numbers. Am I really supposed to believe that if I combine the initials of a bunch of strangers and my wife’s birthday it’ll be easier to remember?
Rule No. 5 Do not use a word that can be found in any dictionary. What do computer security guys consider a word? What else can you find in dictionaries?
Rule no. 6 Do not use a string of letters like “qwerty” Why not? It obeys rule 5!
Rule No. 7 If I forget my password all I have to do is click on the “Have you forgotten your password?” option and they’ll jar my memory with a series of questions. The problem is I can’t remember which question I chose to be able to remember my password. Mmmm, was it my mother’s maiden name or my first pet’s name?
I know there are software programs that say they’ll manage my passwords for me and state that I’ll only need to remember one password to access it and it will remember the others for me. But doesn’t that go against rule no. 1?
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One or two or me....I wouldn't remember more than that even because I'm on really many forums and boards.
Rob
[Edited at 2007-05-07 21:14]
| | | | Heidi C
Local time: 12:01
English to Spanish
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| Won't say it publicly... (to avoid phishers trying to figure me out) | May 7, 2007 |
But...
My husband's computer (his laptop from work) is programmed to change the password every day. It does not allow him to just change one character, does not allow him to repeat characters, has to combine numbers, letters and punctuation marks, in addition to being case sensitive...
AND
If you stop using the computer for a while (enough time for it to go to the screen protector) you have to type in the password AGAIN
IT IS A DRAG!!!!!!!
... See more But...
My husband's computer (his laptop from work) is programmed to change the password every day. It does not allow him to just change one character, does not allow him to repeat characters, has to combine numbers, letters and punctuation marks, in addition to being case sensitive...
AND
If you stop using the computer for a while (enough time for it to go to the screen protector) you have to type in the password AGAIN
IT IS A DRAG!!!!!!!
He has a password generating program, AND a password retrieving program. But he is ALWAYS forgetting the passwords for those (which I think also change continuously). ANd if you try to guess more that a few times, the whole thing freezes, you have to turn off the ocmputer and start all over...
I assume his computer is very safe, specially because no one else in the family has the patience or interest of using his computer. The problem is he is also fed up with it and is always trying to use my computer or my son't laptop.
Hurray for being on line!!!! ▲ Collapse
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Silvina Matheu
Argentina
Local time: 13:01
Member
English to Spanish
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John Cutler wrote:
Rule No. 7 If I forget my password all I have to do is click on the “Have you forgotten your password?” option and they’ll jar my memory with a series of questions. The problem is I can’t remember which question I chose to be able to remember my password. Mmmm, was it my mother’s maiden name or my first pet’s name?
Thank you, John, for making me laugh. Rule No 7 has been written for me
I do hate all this thing about passwords! As we add email accounts, entries to databases, online bank accounts, etc., etc., it's another job we have now. And I have found I cannot remember more than 5 passwords... and I won't try any harder!!
| | | | | Dozens, and I've never forgotten one. | May 7, 2007 |
I keep track of them on a WordPerfect file, of which I always have an up-to-date hard copy in a safe place.
BUT: the WordPerfect file does not contain the passwords; it contains hints to remind me of the passwords. An invented example:
mdrgdyr##kds2sil
MDR are (for this example) my brother's initials;
gd yr means the year he graduated (high school);
#kds means the number of, not kids, but cats, that he has;
2sil mean... See more I keep track of them on a WordPerfect file, of which I always have an up-to-date hard copy in a safe place.
BUT: the WordPerfect file does not contain the passwords; it contains hints to remind me of the passwords. An invented example:
mdrgdyr##kds2sil
MDR are (for this example) my brother's initials;
gd yr means the year he graduated (high school);
#kds means the number of, not kids, but cats, that he has;
2sil means the name of his second sister-in-law.
So, password is Mike6804Gail, because my brother Mike graduated in 1968, has 4 cats (note double ## meaning double digit answer), and his 2nd sister-in-law is Gail.
Most are more obscure than that (the Revolutionary War hero often played in reenactments by the husband of my best friend from Girl Scouts when I was a kid, hinted at as GSbeau).
I know my own code clues pretty well and review my passwords often; I almost never have to think more than a few seconds to decipher them.
Complicated? Yes. I have a couple of simple ones that I use for the sites where security is relatively unimportant. But each financial site has something unique. It's fun to think them up, and then invent a code!
[Edited at 2007-05-08 00:36] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Heinrich Pesch
Finland
Local time: 19:01
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
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| dozens of it, but most are on paper | May 8, 2007 |
I remember only 4, but others I have on paper or stored in my browser. I assume nobody wants to file my tax declaration for me, so I do not consider it important to keep that safe and locked away.
Actually I use one password on all free sites and another on sites I pay for.
And mostly you can get your password from the server, so you don't have to remember them all.
Cheers
Heinrich
| | | | | How I remember my pin code... | May 8, 2007 |
I once told a bank manager how I remember my pin codes, and he approved. It is the same principle as Jane's, but not so complicated.
I am hopeless at numbers, to the point where it is a handicap at times. I can occasionally remember numbers divisible by 4, but don't bank on it! I can remember two-digit dates now and then when I'm lucky.
I have a slip of paper wth my petrol card that says:
The year my brother was born.
The year we got engaged.
A... See more I once told a bank manager how I remember my pin codes, and he approved. It is the same principle as Jane's, but not so complicated.
I am hopeless at numbers, to the point where it is a handicap at times. I can occasionally remember numbers divisible by 4, but don't bank on it! I can remember two-digit dates now and then when I'm lucky.
I have a slip of paper wth my petrol card that says:
The year my brother was born.
The year we got engaged.
Anyone who knows those dates would never dream of misusing my card!
Likewise my bank card:
The year my brother in law was born - (and I have four.)
The year we moved into our present house.
I had an "idiot-proof" code for an earlier card - but ít gave two possible answers! So of course the security system cancelled the card before I could use it for very long. I was getting quite paranoid 
One of the few car numbers I have ever been able to remember was NV 48496.
It served me faithfully for fourteen exciting years, but I fell in love with it in the car dealer's yard simply because of the number! The other was my grandfather's FFY 55, always known as Fifi.
I can't even remember my own mobile phone number! The code to get into it is divisible by 4, so that sticks. I just never call myself, so I get by
Our fixed net number and my husband's number at work seem to have branded themselves on my memory, but otherwise I have to keep a list in my pocket book of all the numbers I need.
And of course I have my passwords on paper: it is the only way. I can't keep track of all the cats and kittens we've had in the family, and my mother-in-law's name might be too easy to guess in Denmark!
If you could use visual logos instead, I'd have no trouble at all. Fingerprinting and iris recognition are the only reliable way of identifying people like me. But that would keep the hackers out for a while, too.
At least Trados lets me in automatically when it has finished checking the licence information - I had better get back to it!
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