Pluggers by Rick McKee for February 20, 2023

I have a better method than that, and it doesn’t leave them exposed for anyone to see.

I have created about a half-dozen generic passwords using things like my late mother’s initials and part of her maiden name, parts of my hometown and the street I grew up on, her birthdate, our old street address, etc. (All things I will remember easily.) Then I keep index cards with the various login names I have, with the sites for each and just the first character of whichever password I used, followed by whatever “special characters” I appended to them.

Even if someone got the cards, seeing an entry like D# after the site name isn’t going to get them anywhere.

I may be a plugger, but I put more effort into keeping my passwords secure than this …

1235, takes awhile to get there!!!

This plugger takes a pass on computer security.

For some pluggers, Password is a game they used to watch on TV.

Sorry, pluggers, the Federal government just increased its own employees’ minimum password length from 12 to 14 characters.

I thought that the part of my brain that used to remember phone numbers would pick up the slack and at least remember the passwords I came up with ’tuther day.

Pluggers know that if someone has unrestricted physical access to your machine it’s effectively compromised anyway.

A lesson in choosing passwords… https://xkcd.com/936/

One piece of paper 18 years old holds all the knowledge ;-)

I’d like two step verification with facial and voice recognition plus a dongle.

Yet somehow, ‘they’ know what I’m doing…….

… or, we use a password manager app, then write the Master Password on a Post-It and stick it to the monitor screen – LOL!

no i don’t…i put them on desk next to computer

I take a screenshot of the site and password with my cellphone and stick it in a note app.

The problem with password security is that most of the time the hackers get into the company and steals everyone’s passwords from there. At that point it doesn’t matter how strong your password is.

One place I worked required everybody to change their password every six weeks or something. People wrote the new one on a sticky note and attached it to the underside of their keyboard.

No way could I get all of my passwords on one sticky note.

Paper can’t be hacked by strangers in a different country.

Because we have nothing to hide.

I have two pages of user ID’s and passwords because every site I use has different requirements or I have to keep changing the password. And now several have two step authentication so I have to leave one screen to go to my email (that requires a password) to get the authentication code to copy and paste. Thank you very much to all the hackers out there that need to get a life.

I used to do that before my browser started remembering them for me

My gripe with passwords is that so many sites won’t let me use anything that I can remember.

My sticky note covers the camera lens so that no one can spy on us. Heaven forbid they see us making dinner! Easily removed for Zoom calls (which are hardly ever anymore, thank God).

I use a password manager. And don’t do anything personal on the devices I use for work.

That’s one way to do it. I try to use the same password for everything. Yes, I know it’s not safe, but at least I can remember it!

Which Password goes with What program – that’s the toughest part!

I put my passwords in a spiral notebook and put the notebook in a safe box with padlock

This is was my Dad

Husband was going crazy trying to keep of his assorted passwords. I gave him my old small sized cards Rolodex system and he uses it to keep track of his passwords.

I use a system where I only have to write down code words. I do this in my cell phone notepads. It includes for each website (such as email addresses where I have several from the same site) a phrase – say “now is the time for all men to come” . I would use the initials of the words nittfamtc in this example and add some symbol and or number. Then I would add to each different address a letter or two at the front of the word and ditto at the end. So each email address has a different sign in, but I only have to remember one phrase. I do something similar for each of the other websites I use also. This way it is hard for someone else (unfortunately this includes my husband when I want him to sign in to one of my accounts on his computer) to figure out what my passwords are.

I have clues that make only sense to me in my cell phones (under a nonensense name) to help me sign into the various accounts – I am aging after all and need some help remembering.

Half my passwords are obscene rants against passwords …

https://authorlindaandrews.com/2014/08/29/friday-funny-senior-citizen-trying-to-set-password/

and more password complaints:

https://www.gocomics.com/moderately-confused/2023/02/21?ct=v&cti=678686

My password hint for one machine was “look up”, which I promptly did, and remembered that I cleaned the wall, …