Can we talk? I hate passwords. I used to dislike them, but we’re well beyond that stage now. It has turned into passionate hatred.
I love my job, but part of the password blame goes to our corporate policy at work. I need a new password every ninety days. It can’t be one I’ve used before. It needs upper case letters. It needs special characters. Oh–I also have to remember it!
Remembering, that’s the tough part.
I’ve been through town/zip code, old street addresses and initials/birthday combos.
My current work password is based on our home phone number 50 years ago. It’s obscure enough even with that hint you’ll never guess it. Even if you had the 1960 Queens, NY phonebook you’d be hard pressed to figure it out.
It took a while to creatively create. In two and a half more months I have to go through it again.
It all seems like a show. When passwords are stolen they’re usually stolen from the password keeper, not the website user. It’s then we find out they don’t have the security demanded of us!
For me the toughest passwords are for insurance and financial sites. They too want hardened passwords, but I don’t use them often enough to remember. One insurance password is changed nearly every time I need the site.
Don’t get me started with Apple. Abandoning their password policy was among the most rewarding parts of leaving the iPhone universe!
Like most people I have a few standard passwords for non-critical, non-monetary applications. More critical sites get their own password, but there are just too many to remember.
There are password apps which can be used, but that just creates a single point of failure where finding one password will get you all of them. Wow!
Can’t someone come up with something better? When I crawl into bed at night and cuddle, Helaine doesn’t have to open her eyes to know it’s me. Can’t passwords work like that… without the cuddling… or pajamas?