Regarding Online Passwords...

[THUNDERSTRIKE]

that other thread regarding the most commonly used ATM pin numbers got me to thinking...

do you use the exact same password for every place that you frequent and visit online that requires a password, such as forums, banking, eBay, things like that?...

do you use your own universal password for each and every site for ease and convenience' sake, or do you use a different one for whatever online site you go to?...

is it smarter to go with various passwords, even though sometimes you practically have to keep a list of them and what site they are attached to, or do you just make it easy for yourself to have a master password that's used at every one of your online sites that you visit?...

is using the same password wherever you go online a mistake?...

I USED to have different passwords for different sites, but it just became too hard to remember them and too numerous to jot down and I eventually wound up using just one password for everything, such as my online banking, checking my emails, going to eBay, business transaction sites, government civil service sites, forums, etc.

what are your thoughts and comments on it all?

 

[Kane52630]

I have 4 or 5 interchangeable passwords that I drilled in my memory bank.

 

[knowsbleed]

I feel as if I know too much about you already. Let's not get more personal.

 

[Know One]

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I trust all of you.
This is my password for this site and my hotmail account.

 

[Manic]

I actually have a system for creating new passwords that are both memorable and dissimilar to one another. I came up with it at an old job where my employee login to the Point of Sales computers reset every couple of months and I had to keep coming up with new passwords.

The hard part is remembering which password in the series I use for which account when I'm online.

 

[KevanG]

Just use asterisk's for a PW. No one will ever figure it out.

 

[redmarvel]

No, I do not use the exact same password for every place that I visit online.

I use one password for "game/fun" forums (like this one). Though sometimes the password rules on those sites don't allow my normal password (too long, too short, not enough numbers, too many numbers, not enough special characters, too many special characters, etc.).

It is smarter to go with various passwords and I do have to keep a list of them and what site they are attached to. It's written in my phone book but does not include passwords to banking or paypal type sites. Those I force myself to remember.

Using the same password wherever you go online is a mistake only if those sites involve money and/or personal information you don't want to share. If you don't care if someone snags your password off another site and uses it to pretend to be you, then your password doesn't matter.

Keep passwords for things that are really private safe. Make them as secure as you can (some sites make this difficult). These are my password rules (as suggested by many security sites), I relax these for game/fun forums:
- 8 or more characters
- 1 letter, 1 number, 1 special character, 1 uppercase (not as the first character) and 1 lowercase.
- Avoid sequential sequences (123, 321, ABC, asdf)
- Avoid repetitive key strokes (111, 222, aaa)
- Avoid names (especially names that involve the site, for example, on Superherohype your password should not have the words SUPER, HERO or HYPE in it)