Work Smart: A Single Trick for Remembering Countless Passwords
By: Gina Trapani April 19, 2010
One of the most annoying things about computing today is having
to keep track of
dozens of passwords. You've got passwords to Web sites,
computers, networks, and
the ATM, and every time you create a new password it's easy to
use one you've
used before and make it something easy to remember, like your
birthday, your
kid's name, or your first phone number. The problem is this:
Many passwords that
>every easy for you to remember are also easy for an identity
thief to guess. Plus,
using the same password for everything is like having the same
key for your
house, your car, and your office. Once someone steals one key,
they can get into
everything.
What you want is a different, complex password for each
situation. The trick to
remembering all those different passwords? Create them all based
on a single
PATTERN. Here's how it works. Pick a keyword or phrase that
never changes, then
combine it with something specific to the service you're logging
into.
For example, say your keyword is robot. A simple pattern might
be the keyword
plus the first three letters of a service name. If you're
setting a password for
Amazonddcom, it would be robotama. If you're setting a password
for PayPalddcom
with that pattern, it would be robotpay. That way, every single
password you
have is different, but all you have to remember is a single
pattern.
When you choose your pattern, make sure it creates passwords
that are at least
eight characters, and includes letters and numbers--even a symbol
for good
measure. For example, you could substitute the O's in robot with
zeroes, or put
an asterisk at the beginning of your keyword. You can create
some seriously
complex passwords that are impossible to crack with simple
patterns based on a
single key word or phrase.
For example, my friend Matt Haughey likes to use the chorus of
classic songs to
create his passwords. He used the first letter of each word in
the phrase "One
is the loneliest number" to create a password: 1itln. When Matt
forgot the
password, he'd just sing the song to himself.
My friend Eric likes to interleave two words one character at a
time to create a
memorable password. For example, if you chose the words blue and
123,
interleaving them you'd get b1ful2u3ence. All you have to
remember is blue 123 and
the pattern of one character from each at a time.
Finally, you can use a tactile pattern, and choose letters and
numbers based on
their location and proximity on the keyboard. This saves you
time when you type
the password: if you choose letters that are next to one another,
like asdf, or
qwerty, your fingers don't have to move as much reaching across
the keyboard
every time you enter the password.
There might be times when your password pattern doesn't always
work--like on
some corporate networks, you have to change your password every
few months; or
someone else sets a password for you. The safest place to store
passwords is in
your head, but if you absolutely must write down your passwords
so you don't
forget them, don't do it on paper. I recommend KeePass Password
Safe, a free
program for Mac and Windows that stores your passwords in a
secure, encrypted
database. You can download it from wwwddkeepassddinfo.
A good password is unique, easy for you to remember and hard
for others to
guess. Keep track of an unlimited number of unique passwords by
using a single
pattern.
Gina Trapani is the author of Upgrade Your Life and founding
editor of
Lifehackerddcom. Work Smart appears every week on
FastCompanyddcom.
Copyright Ággc) 2010 Mansueto Ventures LLC. All rights reserved.
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