How Do You Keep Up With All Of Those Passwords?

 

At my office we have a saying that goes something like this: “If we lose the password file we are done.” Passwords are the worst part of digital life. There are a lot of choices on how to keep up with your passwords, some of them are free and some of them charge a bit. I have several different sources for keeping up with my passwords and most likely they are not the absolute most secure resources but they are mine. When it comes to passwords the key is to find the solution that works best for you.

My first go to tool is Microsoft Word. One of the great things about Word is that you can create a password protected document. At the office we take full advantage of this and have a double secure scenario. We have a password protected file folder with a password protected document. This is the file that if lost could make us find a new profession.

In my personal life I make great use of Evernote and a good ol’ fashion address book. The address book is the best solution that I have come across for keeping up with basic log in information. I would not put something in there as important as my bank account password but for things such as my bit.ly account it works great. This idea was passed to me by a travel agent, Cyndy Nordkye, and I have become a huge fan.

If you are looking for other solutions here is one that you may find useful:

Lastpass https://lastpass.com/

This is a popular tool that is free for desktop use and just has a $1 a month fee for premium. To use Lastpass you install it as a Chrome, Firefox or Safari extension. It will then automatically generate and remember passwords for you. Another great feature is that it will auto fill in fields for you. So when you are filling out a form online it will automatically fill in the information that you have already provided with the tool. This can be handy because filling out the same data over and over again on websites can be quite annoying.

Check out the HuffingtonPost review here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/18/password-tools_n_3769501.html

Whatever you do to keep up with your endless amount of passwords just make sure that they are secure. Microsoft is a company that knows a lot about security and in this post they provided a lot of great tips that are worth reading. In the sampling below they provide tips on what makes for a bad password. Are you guilty of any of these?

Know what makes for a bad password.

Because the attacks described above are becoming increasingly more common, you don’t want to use anything in your password that’s personal and easy to guess. Keep in mind the following don’ts:

Some of the worst passwords are: password, drowssap, admin, 123456, and the name of your company or department. Finally, never leave it blank. That’s a surefire way to let the bad guys into your system.

Read the full article here: http://www.microsoft.com/business/en-us/resources/technology/security/5-tips-for-top-notch-password-security.aspx?fbid=Y_Q9iLqjCMx

How do you keep up with your passwords? Do you have any tips that you can provide?

Image courtesy of cooldesign at FreeDigitalPhotos.net