Passwords, don't do what I did

[davemchine]

For years I've re-used about 4 passwords for every account I've created. I know it's not the right way to do it but alot of these accounts didn't seem terribly important at the time. Now I'm getting messages left and right saying my passwords have been part of a data breach and I need to update them. This is an incredible amount of work. Don't do what I did!

[jdc]

[cbelt3]

I use a similar approach to the xkcd one above

[wurm]

And sadly, I use a similar method to davemchine's. Thankfully, many of them are with long gone email addresses and/or long gone companies.

[freeradical]

A lot of sites require things such as special characters, numbers, and mixed case for valid passwords.

[Sarcany]

cbelt3 wrote:
I use a similar approach to the xkcd one above

Don't use a selection of words unless they are random and have at least two additional types of complexity -- adding a random letter in caps and a random special character for example.

Otherwise dictionary crackers will have you.

Most people assume that any four words they pick will add sufficient complexity, but people tend to pick familiar and common words when left to their own devices and this is surprisingly predictable even if you think your advanced college degree in literature gives you an edge. Use an online tool for random word-generation or an app like 1Password to randomly generate the words.

[Dennis S]

This site is helpful to me for picking passwords:

https://www.uic.edu/apps/strong-password/

[testcase]

I expected you to report that you put ALL of your passwords into a "Password Vault" app and then forgot the "Master" password thereby locking you completely out of your "digital life". :facepalm:

[Dennis S]

testcase wrote:
I expected you to report that you put ALL of your passwords into a "Password Vault" app and then forgot the "Master" password thereby locking you completely out of your "digital life". :facepalm:

I will never use that.

[RgrF]

I have a sticky note that, at last glance, contained over 50 passwords. I assume since it's a sticky anyone who hacks into my Mac will have them but then anyone capable of doing that will already know more about me than I know myself.