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Have you ever thought about your passwords? (Read 226 times)

sluggo


John

    First this is not an advertisement. I think of it more as a public service with humor mixed in. If nothing else, watch the video. You will find it entertaining.

     

    We all know that keeping different, complex, passwords at different sites is a pain. Apparently, the most common password is password. Plus people will just tell you their password if you ask correctly. See:

     

    http://947thewave.cbslocal.com/2015/01/16/jimmy-kimmel-asks-people-on-hollywood-blvd-what-is-your-password/

     

    Want a solution? Don't write your passwords down on a piece of paper, though this is better than nothing. Try a password manager. Their are several. I use Lastpass and I pay a bit extra so it sync's to my cell phone.

     

    Then dream up a good password for your password manager. For a hint, see:

     

    http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/936:_Password_Strength

     

    End of story. I hope you find this post useful.

    John
    www.wickedrunningclub.com

    In the beginning, the universe was created.This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.

    --- Douglas Adams, in "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe"

    NikoRosa


    Funky Kicks 2019

      We have a LastPass subscription as well, and convinced my parents to do it too.  Very handy and worth the price.

      Leah, mother of dogs


      Best Present Ever

        There is obviously something I don't understand about how password managers work, since all knowledgable people recommend them - why am I not vulnerable to having password manager hacked??

          LastPass is wonderful. Yes, it can be hacked but is much more trustyworthy than do it yourself. Read more in this article http://www.cbsnews.com/news/in-wake-of-lastpass-hack-how-safe-are-password-managers/

          "Any idiot can run a marathon. It takes a special kind of idiot to run an ultramarathon." - Alan Cabelly


          an amazing likeness

            There is obviously something I don't understand about how password managers work, since all knowledgable people recommend them - why am I not vulnerable to having password manager hacked??

             

            They can be hacked, nothing is immune. But, in terms of risk - your 1 master password with the password manager can be much better and effective than you having a dozen or two of weak passwords since you only have 1 password; and when you add 2-factor authentication to it, that's a pretty good scenario.

            Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.

            LedLincoln


            not bad for mile 25

              There is obviously something I don't understand about how password managers work, since all knowledgable people recommend them - why am I not vulnerable to having password manager hacked??

               

              The deal is, it is not safe to use the same password for multiple sites, but remembering what is for me, hundreds of different passwords is not possible.

               

              I use Password Safe (Windows) / Password Gorilla (Linux), and keep the resulting password file on my work computer, my home computer, and a flash drive. It is protected with a 30+ character passphrase (oops, I've already told you too much). I have to reference the password safe every few days, to create new or retrieve rarely-used usernames/passwords.

               

              I don't use a cloud-based password service I'm a little paranoid about that.


              Kalsarikännit

                I'm worried that someone may break into my RA account and post something stupid.

                I want to do it because I want to do it.  -Amelia Earhart

                 

                  I'm worried that someone may break into my RA account and post something stupid.

                   

                  They would be way, way too late.

                  Runners run


                  Kalsarikännit

                     

                    They would be way, way too late.

                     

                    THAT'S THE JOKE.

                     

                    Lank is never coming back.

                    I want to do it because I want to do it.  -Amelia Earhart

                     

                      For shame.

                      Runners run

                      runnershawn


                        best password is password

                        AmoresPerros


                        Options,Account, Forums

                          ... Don't write your passwords down on a piece of paper, ....

                           

                          Cause when one of the Internet Hackers steals into abode and ransacks your papers, you would be mortified if they found your papers full of passwords.

                          It's a 5k. It hurt like hell...then I tried to pick it up. The end.

                          sluggo


                          John

                             

                            Cause when one of the Internet Hackers steals into abode and ransacks your papers, you would be mortified if they found your papers full of passwords.

                            Well there are folks at work that write their passwords on yellow stickies and stick them on their monitor. The "secure" ones put the paper under their key board.

                             

                            Paper at home is not a great idea but not as bad as work. However, paper passwords tend to be too simple for security.

                            John
                            www.wickedrunningclub.com

                            In the beginning, the universe was created.This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.

                            --- Douglas Adams, in "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe"

                            AmoresPerros


                            Options,Account, Forums

                              There is obviously something I don't understand about how password managers work, since all knowledgable people recommend them - why am I not vulnerable to having password manager hacked??

                               

                              I think you got a couple real answers, but to be safe, I will attempt one as well.

                               

                              There are two dangers, or perhaps I should say, tendencies to weaknesses, in humans entering their own passwords for web sites.

                               

                              #1) Supposedly a lot of people reuse passwords for web sites, so that they can remember one password for 50 web sites, instead of 50 passwords.

                               

                              This means that if ANY of those 50 web sites is breached, now that user's accounts may be breached on multiple web sites. And of those 50 web sites, probably some are weak.

                               

                              #2) Supposedly a lot of people use weak passwords, such as words found in dictionaries, or words in dictionaries with simple, predictable encodings applied (for example, substitute "@" for "a", or "1" for "i").

                               

                              These types of simple passwords come from a MUCH, MUCH smaller set of possibilities (than say, all alphanumeric combinations of ten digits), making them more subject to discovery (ref: dictionary attacks, pre-computed hashes).

                               

                              Password managers can be used to ameliorate both problems simultaneously.

                               

                              =====

                               

                              Of course, you are correct; using the password manager shifts the point of weakness to one central location shared by all of them.  But it might enable the human to manage to use one more complicated password, in place of 50 simple (& memorable) ones, or in place of one shared 50 times (and thus potentially exposed in 50 places).

                              It's a 5k. It hurt like hell...then I tried to pick it up. The end.

                              stadjak


                              Interval Junkie --Nobby

                                2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do

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