Do you have a password problem?

January 25th, 2010

The New York Times reminds us that 1 out of 5 computer users choose a dumb, popular password.

 

Some tips on creating a password that is easy for you to remember, but tough to crack:

  • Use the first letter/number of each word from a phrase you know and can remember. For example, MyStreetNumberIs25 or TheDogsNameIsLulu.
  • Look through the dictionary and find a word that is easy to remember but rarely used.
  • Try the foreign translation of your name. For instance, Greenwood is Grunewald in German and Boisvert in French.
  • Put two interesting words together, but type them in reverse, with a number between them.
  • Buy a map of the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany or Belgium. Use the names of the towns as passwords, cross them off after a month's use and keep switching. You can even hang the map on the wall, and no one will ever realize what you're up to.
  • Use your spouse's initials AND your anniversary, like TFB0602. (This guarantees you won't forget an anniversary card, either.)

During a recent PASSWORD

On February 8th, 2010 Anonymous says:
During a recent PASSWORD AUDIT at the Bank of Ireland it was found that Paddy O'Toole was using the following password: MickeyMinniePlutoHueyLouieDeweyDonaldGoofyDublin. When Paddy was asked why he had such a long password, he replied "Bejazus! are ye a bit crazed? Shore Oi was told me password had to be at least 8 characters long and include one capital!"

The password issue goes much

On February 1st, 2010 Anonymous says:
The password issue goes much deeper than just deciding on which one to use. There are people who implement new systems but never change the default password. If our support team comes across such a situation, they strongly advise the customer to change it. However, most times, their advice falls on deaf ears. The bigger question is "How do you get people to understand the importance of passwords in general?" It is sad that, as technology driven as we are today, many novices refuse to recognize this as a serious issue and worse yet, many smaller companies don't have an internal IT staff, so there is no one to emphasize or report the issue to.

I thought I had a great

On February 1st, 2010 Anonymous says:
I thought I had a great password to use for all of my systems but then some system admin goes and requires a special character and messes me all up. "Now did I use the "$" or the "!" in between those numbers and letters I chose. Dang it all!

Thanks for the great tips!

On February 1st, 2010 Anonymous says:
Thanks for the great tips! I'm hanging a map of the Netherlands in my office tomorrow ... think anyone will figure it out?