What is your password?

[fwgx]

Well not really. But how do you go about selecting your password? Is it the name of something, a random word, how many letters, a pets name, or a random set of upper and lowercase alphanumeric and symbol charachters?

I have about 4 in use at the moment, three are reasonably secure, save their age. They're just random letter, numbers and symbols and are 8 chars each. My other one is just a word that is 10 chars long and that I'm going to change tonight as I've been using it for everything not too important for the last 4 years.

Also, is it just me or should an online banking site force you to use a secure password? Mine doesn't and activly stops you from doing so!

[OutlawJim]

there's 11 letters in mine, always the same thing, and my best friends all know it. and nobby knows it too. but i know his

[james]

i tend to use some english word with a bunch of letters and numbers on the end.

Interestingly, I tend to remember my passwords through muscle memory (how I type them) so a new keyboard can cause trouble. Also if someone asks me what it is I'm like er, have to type it out! (not that I give out my passwords)

[mark]

word -> reverse it -> make leet -> add another word -> misspell

[SSJ4 Gogitta]

Dunno how i thought of mine, but it's a mix of 9 alphanumeric characters.

[fwgx]

I'm the same herb. I'd be like "lowercase b, uppercase A, dollar sign, dash, tilde, four, uppercase H, 0". Which I couldn't remember without typing it out anyway. I remember having to use a german keyboard in a hurry to buy something on e-bay once, I couln't login because I didn't actually know what my password was, it was just a pattern of keys I pressed.

[Gonzotek]

I've used one password since college for all the stuff that I don't really care about(7 chars, alphanumeric). Then I use that and a password generator/keeper inside my palm to make random passwords for things like banking and whatnot. My bank forces you to use a reasonably secure password. They also force you to change it every so often, and this has twice resulted in me being locked out of my account. When this happens, you need to call them provide some info and have them reset the password and snailmail it to you, quite a hassle.

If I'm in a hurry registering for things like forums or news sites, I sometimes use character names from books, plus a remarkable date for numbers...these I usually change if I continue using the service for more than the initial visit.

-=Gonzotek=-
/edit Yeah, I've got the tactile memory thing going too

[Vie]

A word or phrase

normaly from startrek...

[Widdykats]

Why it's ....oh wait!

[ertmann|CPH]

we got a completely randomly generated 8 letter/digit mixed uppercase/lowercase password to access school intranet and stuff, i use it everywhere

looks something like this, other letters and numbers offcourse

7gIc2LHd

except for my home banking system.... where i have another 8 digit code i generated from having my dog walking on the keyboard....

[Raz]

Pattern of keys, i can remember what all the letters/numbers are after using it for so long though.

[d0rk]

I use the same password for everything that I do online. The reason being is 1) I have nothing to hide and 2) Anything I do online doesn't include money.

I have changed it over the years, it used to be cowboys, then it was changed to KIDROCK but for 2 years I have had the same one.

Since working with tech support and I need to change the password for most people, some of the most interesting I have found would be

1Q2W3E4R and ihatebush. Most people who change their password just use their first name.

[CraigF]

i unfortunately have the annoying task of having to remember something in the region of 30 different l/p combinations, and where that fails, i just reset them when i forget.

new password in, old password out

[ScorLibran]

I use the same password for everything in the world of mine that needs a password (easily over 200 places).

Whoever figures out my password will own my entire life.

[NJK]

simple each time it is XXXXXX

easy as hell

(sorry blond moment)

[SSJ4 Gogitta]

Originally posted by spaceplay
simple each time it is XXXXXX

easy as hell

(sorry blond moment)

Mine's generally *********.

[dlinkwit27]

combination of school ID number and soc sec number.

[Mike H.]

I use the same 2 passwords at all sites. There is one that I use a lot. I use the other one in case the site requires numbers in a password. If a site assigns me a password and it's easy to remember, though, I just use that one.

[Coman]

all my passwords are different and i remember every last one of them

[Smeggle]

dunno, most times I just 'forget' password, get a new one and throw it away next time, for important stuff other wise I use a 21 alpha/numeric system.(or maximum allowed)
Secure as F*** and I have tried to beat an 'NT' system in network with brute force generators and haven't beaten it yet.

for my most sensitive stuff, like notes on my mad inventions, they go through a 128bit encryption tool with a 21 string password and is unbreakable. i.e. 'You Do NOT Lose Your Password'! Period!!.
Wicked peice of software (Warning:Certain Legal Restrictions Apply in Different Country's on 128bit encryption).
Thats only when I have it on my hard drive, other than that I just take standard precautions.

~

[MidnightViper88]

Most of the time, I just type in random Num Lock keys and hope it comes out into a formation that I can guess correctly within 9 tries...This is my best method of creating a password that no one can crack, but is so hard, that not even I know what it is! Talk about security!

Otherwise, they're alphanumeric words (Mostly abbreviated), that either complete a phrase or are of my favorite hobbies...Something like "b00b3zr0k" or "sk8pnk", or something like that...

I usually use only one password for most (Or all) of my secure accounts, since I'll get confused and make cross-references between accounts, type in the wrong password, and frustrate myself...I already have locker combinations and telephone numbers to memorize, next to other no-security practicals...Why do I need to remember one more password if no one will find out?

[Bilbo Baggins]

I alwayse use ******cx as my passowrd.

[iomegajaz]

I have three, all 8-digit with an English word and a few numbers which mean something to me. For important stuff like email accounts they're all the same one, and for forums they're one of the other two.

[xzxzzx]

I use various passwords. My shortest is 7 characters long, and I use it for my bank, ironically. However, since bank systems will inherantly be setup secure, it should be less of a problem - I'm sure the bank has safegaurds against brute-forcing, etc. However, it is secure enough to stand against quite a bit of brute-forcing anyway.

My normal password I use for stuff I really want to secure is over 12 characters long, has symbols, capital letters, and numbers. So yeah, that one is pretty good. That one is mostly random, but setup in such a way that it's relatively easy to type.

I also have 6 or 7 passwords I use for other stuff, setup for different requirements (must have a number, must be longer than 8 characters, much be shorter than x characters, etc)

The only weakness in my passwords is their age and frequent use, though the ones I really care about are never used in more than one or two places - where I have complete control over how the password is stored.

[james]

Originally posted by Bilbo Baggins
I alwayse use ******cx as my passowrd.

that's crap, my password is ALL ******* !!!

[xzxzzx]

I've actually used eight asteriks for a password one time.

[anubis2003]

I typically use my old high school student id with some other stuff thrown in.

[Coman]

my password for all my accounts and everything is *truck blows* but dont tell anyone.

[s1138]

1234567890

for those..questionable sites....

[ScorLibran]

I use "12345".

The same as the combination to my luggage.

[mark]

and your giant atmosphere keeping in thingy?

[taylormemer]

All of my passwords are the same 12 numbers. I haven't changed it in a long time. Probably should soon.

[J_Bloggs]

The password I've used for a long time is random, with parts common to all sites/things, and parts specific to the site/thing.

I'm fazing it out in favour of a fully generic random password. And I plan to stop being lazy one day and start rotating my passwords.

Both passwords are around 10 to 17 characters long.

One thing I do is only describe how I make my passwords in a vague manner. Means people can't get too much of a clue to reproduce my steps.

[s0be]

I generally use the sysadmin aproach to a password.
stuff like:
KEYS2THEcastle
or
dILBERTisMyROlEmODEL

s0be

[ryan]

**********

[taylormemer]

Mine is better I'll show you why.
************
Mine is longer then yours

[White Raven]

Mine's the name of a character in my novel. Not saying which one, but it's hard to spell, and it's not 'Dilandau.' =P

[ScorLibran]

Originally posted by Nobby Nobbs
and your giant atmosphere keeping in thingy?

Nah. That one password I had to change.

Dark Helmet kept stealing my air because that silly President Skroob figured out my elusive password.

[xzxzzx]

I use a password similar to:

CdfaR4]asd43\

[Doktor]

Mine is my "national birth number" - It's a combination of my date of birth plus a number. Everyone in my country has his/hers unique number so it's quite similar to the US' soc sec number, but you can tell date of birth and sex from ours "national birth number"...