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Question

Changing Passwords???

Jul 17, 2011 10:40AM PDT

I keep reading where people should change their passwors frequently. That is fine if one does not have many places to go to change passwords. I have several hundred and to make frequent changes would be a pain in the butt. Even though my password is relatively secure if somene hacks into Yahoo, Google, etc and gets my passward from there I probably won't know about it for some time, unless notified by the website. And I do have different passwords for different types of sites. I wonder if it is really worth all the trouble to change passwords frequently and to have passwords that are not easy to break. And I am aware that if I am not diligent enough a hacker might get a keylogger installed on my computer without my knowledge and there go my passwords.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
changing passwords are overrated
Jul 17, 2011 3:48PM PDT

You should just keep one in your head and change your secret question answers in a way where you will only know the answer to. Internet safety is a must. I have a "If you are dumb enough to get your password stolen or hacked, you deserve it" type of philosophy so internet security on my computer is like a stage 5 nuclear facility under the pentagon. Keyloggers are overrated and can be found quickly. I strongly advise you shut off your computer or at least turn off the internet when your finished using your computer.

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Too late for me now
Jul 18, 2011 8:35AM PDT

I just changed all of my 35 yahoo webmail passwords. May be I should go back and change the password to something that I can easily type and save the more difficult passwords for more sensitive sites. I was not so concerned about someone hacking into my computer as I am still concerned about someone hacking into a website and getting passwords from the websites database.

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Answer
I tend to agree
Jul 17, 2011 10:37PM PDT

For the majority of my 'password required' sites I never change them.

But for those where damage could be done, eg banking site, online shopping sites, anywhere where I have had to provide private and personal information, I change those passwords regularly.

I also use the 'strong' password method for those; eg 1234 or markflax1951 or 2845, (pin number type password), or 11-28-51, (Dates of Birth type), fluffy, (pet rabbit), are no no's. Instead, something like jWIlO3q&jW0no1*fHqp

And of course, malware is not permitted.

Mark

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Re: passwords
Jul 17, 2011 11:04PM PDT

To remember that your password is jWIlO3q&jW0no1*fHqp you have to be a genius. How about poor people like me who don't even remember their marriage date Wink ?

Kees

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You never remember your anniversary?
Jul 18, 2011 4:10AM PDT

That's bad, really bad!

I never said I remember those passwords. I have them written down on a Sticky Note and I have stuck it to the monitor! Devil

Mark

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You needn't be a "genius" ...
Jul 20, 2011 3:22AM PDT

to remember strong passwords, just remember a common phrase you like to provide the password such as:

Yahoo - My Momma told me to choose the very best 1 ~ So I did
Y-MMtmtctvb1~SId

Yahoo2 - My Momma told me to choose the very best 1 ~ So I did
Y2-MMtmtctvb1~SId

GMAIL - My Momma told me to choose the very best 1 ~ So I did
G-MMtmtctvb1~SId

Old Truckers never die! ~ They just get a New Peterbilt!
OTnd!~TjgaNP!

__ Happy __

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Answer
try this...
Jul 24, 2011 6:21AM PDT

If you want to create a strong password that's still easy to remember, try something like this:

First, pick something long, the more characters, the harder it is to break. Let's start by picking two decent sized unrelated words at random, lets say, "salmon roadster".

Let's say you're 36 years old. Make it "salmon36roadster".

Next, let's make some easy to remember substitutions: o = 0, R = 2, s = 5, a = 6. Now we have:

s6lm0n36206d5t32

Let's add some special characters. If we started with numbers, we'll substitute shifted characters. For the 36, let's use 3 = #, 6 = ^. Also, let's use ! for L (works well for i too!):

s6!m0n#^206d5t32

Now let's make every other letter a capital:

s6!M0n#^206D5t32

There. Now, you have a sixteen digit password with upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters. If you want, you can even intentionally misspell the words in an obvious, easy to remember fashion, or maybe swap a few letters around, like the first and last, the middle two of each word, or some other pattern. Or, you can make it longer by using more words or an entire phrase. You can easily generate a 30+ digit password that's easy to remember.

You don't have to use my exact algorithm. Make up your own. The point is, with some simple substitutions, you can make a password that's very easy to remember, but to the outside world, appears quite random, long, and hard to break. After a while, you'll have it memorized, but until then, you'll know exactly how to regenerate it.