I've had it. I give up. It's utterly impossible. I have more than 50, maybe even 100 different so-called "accounts" -- LinkedIn, The Huffington Post, Twitter, cable, phone, Internet, website administrator, Google, Yahoo -- the list has become a 10-page typewritten list of account names, numbers, passwords and pin numbers.
I can't remember any of them. And each time I call a company for either customer support or account management information, I sound like a thief.
"And may we have your pin number to verify your account?" they ask.
And I stammer over three or four that spring to mind. Sometimes I have to make them wait and go look it up.
But they tell you -- very urgently -- never, ever to repeat a password. Make each one unique. Make each one impossible to guess. Fill them with numbers, letters and symbols for which most of us don't even have names, like "ampersands" (&).
I don't know how much better I'd be at this if I were 25. I can't imagine it would be all that much easier. But I do know I'm not alone in the sandy-haired set.
One woman at the grocery store had to input a password to get access to the cashier so she could scan our food order. She stood there mesmerized. She was probably a little older than I am. But her face became utterly blank.
Finally, she turned to me, chagrined, "I can't remember my number," then locked the system back up and went to get her boss. It became a 15-minute process.
So, this leaves us with a bit of a problem. Do we carry around lists of passwords? That would make having a password rather foolish since anyone could just grab it out of our pockets or off our computers. Do we have a separate system under a single password, in which all our other passwords are available? Sounds like an idea, but it still leaves us one password away from identity theft.
My husband had a great idea.
"Why not just have one password for the whole lot of 'em?"
"What?"
"Fuggedaboudit."
I thought that was the best idea I'd heard all day.
Follow Judith Acosta on Twitter: www.twitter.com/VerbalFirstAid
Jo Wood: Passwords - A Window to the Soul?
I feel your frustration!
The advice to avoid repeating PW's and PIN’s was started when there was little need for a grocery list of them; it was part of a computer class I taught years ago. But, now the problem is disproportionately large and should be altered. It is still a good idea to make them somewhat complex and to change them periodically, however even that must be done with an eye to the practical. I have “solved” my problem by categorizing by potential threat.
The ones that pose little potential to personal loss are simple; the ones that pose potential trouble along the lines of inconvenience get one that is difficult; and any that involve my money are next to encrypted.
I do change them occasionally… if I remember… :p
Lawson
PS: ... and against all levels of stern warning, yes I do write them down!
Hilarious, a large EM pulse! I’m with you, ‘sept for shooting the Elk… I not so much a hunter. However, with 380 you should be able to establish some sort of redundancy that makes sense only to you. Good luck with all that!
I'm a fan, because of your creative, albeit unliikely solution. :)
Lawson Meadows