Is your password strong enough?

General Topics
1

Hi folks,

Is your password strong enough. Take it to the test here:
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/privacy/password_checker.mspx

polonus

2

As a suspicious person, I’d like to know if this is used only to grade a password or,
is it used to build a database of passwords that might have been used??? ;D ;D

3

Security really hacks me off when it’s too tight. I tried to do a simple transaction over the phone with my bank today but I could get past the security. I had to drive into town to persuade somebody to let me pay my credit card bill.

At work I can’t get into my account on the computer system because there are so many d**n passwords which keep changing so I just use the default user option most of the time. Getting on to read emails is like getting into Fort Knox, so most of them go unanswered for weeks. Grrrrr… >:(

4

Here’s a toutorial on perfecting your passwords that I just came accross:
http://bob3160.googlepages.com/perfectyourpasswords

5

Hi bob3160,

Nice find, Bob, informative, and right to the point.

polonus

6

The perfect password is one you are just beginning to remember when the admins decide that it’s time to change it. It will be a combination of upper and lower case characters and numerals, not any meaningful word of course- it will take at least two or three attempts to enter without making any mistakes, and will require you to write it down somewhere if you’re ever going to remember it, but you have to write it down in code of course in case you ever lose your diary, and don’t even dream of putting it on a post-it note on the monitor!

:frowning:

7
and don't even dream of putting it on a post-it note on the monitor!
Hi Frank, I know if you do that, GoogleDesktop Search might steal it...... ;D ;D
8

Yep, bob3160,

Sometimes you have a surprise when you sit at the computer of some-one else, and you topple his or her keyboard upside-down, have a look right there and you’ll find the sticky notes where they have posted their admin-passwords & log-ins, in case of a personal memory flaw. The world is more bizarre than you can think of guys and gals. Leaving the key under the door-mat is a world-wide phenomenon and repeated in many a way, I remember one day we were at a tech course, and I could log-in first to the computer, it was in Amsterdam and the password was…AJAX (the name of their soccer-club).
There was a big grin from the fellow-students, but it comes to show…

polonus

9

Do You Have Difficulty Remembering Passwords

Many people do and end up leaving themselves less secure, by storing the user name and passwords using windows or a browser password file. Because we have more and more usernames and passwords to remember for websites, etc. that we visit infrequently, so we may need help.

  1. Write them down on paper - Saving your usernames/passwords (or PassPhrases were you use the first/second/last letter of each word) on paper gives a local security problem, but is marginly better than storing them unprotected on your computer. - Take care you don’t lose the bit of paper. For the user names or passwords you write down the memorable word that would indicate it rather than the actual user name or password.

  2. Create a text (.txt) document to store your user name (don’t call it passwords.txt for obvious reasons) and save it to a directory (or off-computer media) you will remember. Then zip the text file and password protect it (I know another password), using an obscure, memorable, strong (use number and letters, e.g. strong= Str0n5, but not this dictionary conversion there are tools that will find that hash-up easily). That way you are the only one who is going to have access to it, don’t forget to backup the file (floppy disk) so you are the only one to be able to access it.

  3. 3rd Party Password Encryption Program - There are programs that will not only take care of creating strong passwords, but they also remember what website, etc. they are used for and they are (or should be) stored encrypted. - Obviously this could cost $, but will provide good security, don’t forget to backup the file and program. - Sorry, no recommendations here, I use option 2 above for my less frequently used logons.

10
I know if you do that, GoogleDesktop Search might steal it.....

;D