 Is it secret? Is it safe?
OK maybe it's not literally the end of the world if your Facebook password falls into somebody else's hands ... not nearly as bad as the Dark Lord getting hold of the One Ring (what, that's not real?). But it would be jolly inconvenient wouldn't it? And it's not just a waste of your time (which is bad enough), there is a more serious side to it as it could mean that your personal information is compromised. Facebook is just one example, what about your online banking login and your PayPal account?
I know, it's very easy to take your passwords for granted. There are so many of them to remember aren't there? So, what do we all do? We use the same password over and over again. I know I've been guilty of it. But that means that if somebody else gets hold of it they have access to all sorts of things. Doesn't bear thinking about.
So, I've got two top tips for you: a way to create unique but memorable passwords and a fab bit of software to help you store them all securely. Here we go...
How to create a unique but memorable password
This is a tip I read in a magazine some time ago and has certainly solved my problem of using the same password over and over again. Here's how it works:
- Think of a word that means something to you. The example I'm going to use here is the name of a guinea pig I had when I was growing up - Minstrel.
- Do a bit of number replacement - m1nstr3l.
- Memorise it as you're going to be using this over and over again. If it's a word that you're not going to remember then think of something else.
- For all you passwords use the word above with the first three letters of what it's for appended to it, so I would have the following:
Facebook = m1nstr3lfac
Twitter = m1nstr3ltwi
PayPal = m1nstr3lpay
Get the idea? The great thing about this is that every password you create will be different but you'll have a system to be able to remember it. Of course this isn't completely foolproof - if someone gets hold of your special word then they will still be able to work out your passwords, but it's better than using exactly the same thing each time isn't it?
Secure storage for your passwords
Even if you use the top tip above you're going to have a lot of passwords to remember and you're not always able to create your own - sometimes the password is automatically generated for you. Another problem I have is remembering usernames - sometimes it's your email address (which email address did I use again?) and sometimes it's a username which can depend on what's available. Hmmm. So, here's the solution to all your login memory problems: KeePass Password Safe.
KeePass is a free (yes, free!) piece of software which you can run on your computer or a USB stick if you need to be more portable. You use it to store all your login information for your various accounts and it encrypts the passwords so that they are not easily accessible. Of course you do have to remember the password for the software to be able to access your passwords but I'm sure you can cope with one can't you?
KeePass itself runs on Windows, but if you're a Mac or Linux user have a look at KeePassX which is a cross platform version of the software. |
