Writing Your Life History In Passwords
from the security-is-for-wimps dept
While I'm sure this article will make security-minded folks cringe, here's the story of a woman who, when forced every three months to change her password at work, picks a word that relates to whatever she's focused on in life at that moment. She then writes the password down on a piece of paper - that includes all of her past passwords for many years - and scans that piece of paper into her computer. While the security of this method is quite weak, she says the unintended consequence is that she now has a snapshot of what was going on in her life at three month intervals for many, many years. Of course, there are probably better ways to keep a journal of your life than by hiding it in your password.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Story of my life...
Here's the excerpt of my last few passwords:
Secret030
Secret029
Secret028
Secret027
Secret026
Pretty fascinating, huh? It's OK to be jealous...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Story of my life...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Story of my life...
Secret030
Secret029
Secret028
Secret027
Secret026
Wow, I use the same passwords, but only for non-important stuff like Online Banking, Online Stock Transactions, and Commercial websites which use the password to protect my credit card information.
For everything else, I use my ultra-top-secret password: 1-2-3-4-5.
"Damn, that is the same combination I use on my luggage." -- President Skroob (Mel Brooks), _Spaceballs_.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
You know...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: You know...
Oh well, someday she'll learn, and hard, or she won't and it won't matter. At least she isn't a doctor or an insurance adjuster, or somebody who we trust with really sensitive information.
[ link to this | view in thread ]